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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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March 31st,
2008 - CIA Leak Inquiry Cost $2.58 Million |
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CIA Leak
Inquiry Cost $2.58 Million By Pete Yost Associated Press March 31, 2008 Washington - The CIA leak
probe cost $2.58 million, the Government Accountability Office disclosed
Monday, wrapping up an investigation that ensnared Vice President Dick
Cheney's chief of staff for perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI. The office of Special
Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald spent the money over a 45-month span that saw the
indictment, trial and conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The investigation also
touched on other officials in the State Department and the White House,
including presidential political adviser Karl Rove, who leaked the CIA
identity of Valerie Plame. "This matter is now
concluded for all practical purposes," reported the GAO, the
investigative arm of Congress. The office of special counsel will continue to
incur small expenses for limited purposes, such as responding to
congressional requests for information. The spending total consists
of figures from eight reports issued by the GAO since early 2004, with the
latest issued Monday. It showed $187,420 in expenditures for the six months
ending last Sept. 30. At the height of
Fitzgerald's work, the office spent $770,838 for the six months ending March
31, 2007, the month a jury convicted Cheney's former chief of staff. Couched in the language of
government bureaucrats and auditors, the latest GAO report summarized what
happened next to Libby, described in the document only as an administration
official. "On July 2, 2007, the
president of the United States commuted the prison term imposed by the
sentencing judge upon the administration official who was convicted after a
jury trial. On Dec. 11, 2007, the administration official dropped his appeal
of his convictions," the GAO report concluded. Sentenced by U.S. District
Judge Reggie Walton to 30 months in prison for his conviction, Libby ended up
paying a $250,000 fine and is on two years probation, all that remains from
President Bush's commutation of Libby's prison term. Bush called the sentence
excessive. Walton said he was "somewhat perplexed" as to how the
sentence could be accurately described as "excessive." The 2
1/2-year sentence was at the low end of federal sentencing guidelines, the
judge noted. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXXiZqHVR9X_UKM9_lp32ixHMrjwD8VOL4MG0 |