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Miers Withdraws; Libby Indicted & Resigns

In a series of significant political setbacks for the Bush administration, Harriet Miers has withdrawn her Supreme Court nomination and I. Lewis Libby—Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff—resigned after he was indicted on five charges.

Miers—who had been appointed by President Bush to become an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court—had come under fire from both conservatives and liberals. In her withdrawal letter yesterday, Miers said she was concerned the “confirmation process presents a burden for the White House” (read the letter, PDF from CNN.com).

Libby was indicted today on one count of obstruction of justice, two of perjury, and two of making false statements and has resigned from the Bush administration. The charges stem from grand jury testimony regarding the leak of a CIA operative’s name to the media in 2003. The charges do not relate directly to the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson’s name, however they are the first to come out of the investigation.

The investigation is still ongoing, and other high level officials—including Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove—may still be in legal jeopardy.

Scott Bradford has been putting his opinions on his website since 1995—before most people knew what a website was. He has been a professional web developer in the public- and private-sector for over twenty years. He is an independent constitutional conservative who believes in human rights and limited government, and a Catholic Christian whose beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from George Mason University. He loves Pink Floyd and can play the bass guitar . . . sort-of. He’s a husband, pet lover, amateur radio operator, and classic AMC/Jeep enthusiast.