Libby’s jury selection has political feel

WASHINGTON – Potential jurors in the perjury trial of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby likely will be asked their opinions of the Bush administration, political scandals and the Iraq war today, foreshadowing the political tenor of a lengthy trial.

Libby is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters regarding outed CIA officer Valerie Plame. Plame’s identity was leaked to reporters in 2003 after her husband criticized the Bush administration’s prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The leak touched off a political firestorm and an FBI investigation that Libby is accused of obstructing.

Defense lawyers are expected to call as a witness Vice President Dick Cheney, whom Libby served as chief of staff. If that happens, it would mark the first time that a sitting vice president has testified in a criminal case.

Attorneys for both sides recognize the politics behind the case and have proposed questions for jurors about their views on government, politics and the media.

The answers will be critical for Libby, a Republican who also served as an adviser to President Bush. The jury is being drawn from a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than nine to one.

“What is your political party preference? Democrat, Republican, Independent or other?” defense attorneys wrote on their list of proposed jury questions.

“Please describe any feelings you have about Vice President Cheney,” they also asked.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has not released his final list of questions but has indicated that such political questions are needed to select a fair jury.

Walton will put those questions to a group of about 60 potential jurors today. Each juror will then take the stand for follow-up questions from defense attorneys, prosecutors and the judge.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s proposed list includes questions about what newspapers and magazines jurors read and where they get their news. Fitzgerald also wants to know whether their opinion of Libby’s former job would make it hard for them to be fair.

Defense attorneys are even more pointed in their proposed questions. Among those on their list:

“”Based on what you know at this time, do you believe that the Administration misled the American people to justify going to war?”

“Do you have particularly strong feelings about the war in Iraq?

Walton expects jury selection to take two to three days and has scheduled opening arguments to begin Monday. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.

The trial should give the public glimpses of how Bush administration insiders responded to a high-level critic – former ambassador Joseph Wilson – who claimed the president and his closest advisers distorted intelligence and lied to push the nation into war with Iraq.

The case won’t assess blame for the leak itself, however. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who has acknowledged being the original leaker, has not been charged.