In a series of significant political setbacks for the Bush administration, Harriet Miers has withdrawn her Supreme Court nomination and I. Lewis Libby—Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff—resigned after he was indicted on five charges.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