The United States v. I. Lewis Libby

Edited by Murray Waas and Jeff Lomonaco

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The United States v. I. Lewis Libby
Edited and with reporting by Murray Waas, with additional editing and reporting by Jeff Lomonaco
Union Square Press
584 pages, $12.95 paper

Murray Waas, a disciple of Jack Anderson, the ultimate outsider, has assembled a plump volume of the trial and grand-jury records in the case of I. Lewis Libby, chief of staff to the vice president, convicted in March of obstruction of justice and lying in the case involving disclosure of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. The transcripts make clear that Waas may have had less interest in Libby’s missteps than in the foibles of a cohort of Washington’s current insider journalists, among whom Tim Russert, Bob Woodward, Judith Miller (jailed for a time for refusing to testify), and Robert Novak (who first revealed Plame’s identity to the public), were the most celebrated. Their accounts of dealing with Libby and other members of the administration constitute an encyclopedia of insiderdom—the anonymous-source-concealment dance, the sometimes transparent charade of selective source protection, the willingness to be spun in exchange for access to power. Most embarrassingly, the trial revealed the far-from-precise methods of top-rank journalists—lost notebooks, illegible notes, shaky recollections. It could happen to anybody, of course, but these were supposed to be among the best.

Editor & Publisher said in a review of the book:

Investigative reporter Murray Waas broke several key stories on the Plame/CIA leak affair for the National Journal and now his book on the case will appear June 5-- the day Lewis Scooter Libby is sentenced to prison...

In the intro, Waas vividly sketches the roles played by everyone from Vice President Cheney to New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Waas calls the book an opportuntiy for the public to further its collective understanding, and, ultimately, to render judgment on this shrouded chapter in the presidency of George Bush.

Publishers Weekly said:

Readers fascinated by politics and the law will want to pick up this book, which features edited trial transcripts from the federal case against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, who was convicted of obstruction of justice and making false statements in the investigation of the alleged outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame (in a July, 2003 column by Robert Novak). Waas begins with a detailed chronology of events, a list of people involved in the case and an insightful introduction, setting the scene nicely for the trial. The bulk of the book is composed of trial testimony from various witnesses, some minor celebrities among them (like NBC newsman Tim Russert). Waas interjects from time to time with background information or analysis, and introduces each witness with a short biography explaining his or her connection to the case. Opening and closing statements from both sides provide a good summary of the issues, and an interesting appendix contains copies of original documents, such as Libby's handwritten notes and Cheney's own copy of Novak's Plame-naming op-ed piece. While this holds limited appeal for all but the most diehard politicos and legal types, it makes an excellent resource for anyone who wants to understand the scandal in general and Libby's case in particular.

The Associated Press reported about the book:

NEW YORK (AP) — Talk about an "instant" book. Within two hours of I. Lewis Libby's conviction Tuesday for lying and obstruction of justice, a publisher announced plans for a paperback release about the trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.

"Like the published reports from the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group, the CIA leak case warrants a definitive book based upon the Libby trial record," Philip Turner, editorial director of Sterling Publishing's Union Square Press imprint, said in a statement.

"The United States v. I. Lewis Libby," which will include testimony and original reporting, will be edited by investigative journalist Murray Waas of the National Journal, a weekly magazine. The book is scheduled to be released in April as a paperback original, with a first printing of 75,000.

Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity. The verdict culminated a nearly four-year investigation into how CIA official Valerie Plame's name was leaked to reporters in 2003.

The trial revealed how top members of the Bush administration were eager to discredit Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who accused the administration of distorting prewar intelligence on Iraq.

In 2004, when he was editor-in-chief of Carroll & Graf, Philip Turner also published Wilson's "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies That Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity."

(An earlier version of the story said Wilson book was published by Sterling Publishing. )