Libby Kills Appeal

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr. filed a motion to withdraw his appeal of his perjury and obstruction of justice convictions today, about six months after President Bush commuted his 2 ½-year sentence.

Libby was found guilty in March of interfering with the Justice Department’s investigation into the leaked identity of former CIA officer Valerie Plame. His lawyer, Theodore V. Wells Jr. of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, told The Washington Post that Libby still maintains his innocence, but that "the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear."

President Bush has not eliminated the possibility of a full pardon for Libby. For now, Libby remains a convicted felon, serving two years' probation for making false statements to prosecutors about when and how he learned Plame's identity.

No one else was charged in connection to the leak. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage acknowledged in August 2006 that he had identified Plame in conversations with columnist Robert Novak.

Plame, who was a covert officer, and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, say her identity was leaked in retaliation for Wilson’s public criticisms of the Bush administration in 2003.