Attorneys for convicted former vice presidential aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby began working on a request for a new trial today as the Bush White House tried to knock down speculation about a possible pardon in the CIA leak case.

The man who was once US vice president Dick Cheney’s closest adviser is facing up to 25 years behind bars after being convicted of lying and obstructing a media leak investigation that shook the top levels of the Bush administration.

Five weeks and 19 witnesses into the CIA leak trial, US jurors are today set to begin deciding the fate of former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

Prosecutors have just three hours left to convince US jurors in the Washington CIA leak case.

Lewis “Scooter” Libby abandoned plans to testify in his own defence and decided against calling his former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, to help defend him in the CIA leak trial.

Former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, today said they had decided to sue Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove because they engaged in a “whispering campaign” to destroy her career.

COULD US Vice-President Dick Cheney be a star prosecution witness in the perjury trial of his former chief of staff?

It was twice the laughs for members of the White House Correspondents’ Association and guests when President George W Bush and a look-alike, sound-alike sidekick poked fun at the president and fellow politicians.

A federal judge in Washington DC today refused to dismiss charges against Lewis Libby, the former top White House aide who was indicted on perjury and obstruction charges last year in the CIA leak scandal.

THE White House has refused to challenge claims that President George W Bush authorised the leaks of intelligence information to counter US administration critics on Iraq.

The White House today declined to challenge assertions that President George Bush authorised the leaks of intelligence information to counter US administration critics on Iraq.

US vice president Dick Cheney’s former top aide told prosecutors President George Bush authorised the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.

US Vice President Dick Cheney’s former top aide told prosecutors President George Bush authorised the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.

US VICE President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff yesterday pleaded not guilty in the CIA leak scandal, marking the start of what could be a long road to a trial in which top Bush officials could be summoned to testify.

US Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff today pleaded not guilty in the CIA leak scandal, marking the start of what could be a long road to a trial in which Cheney and other top Bush administration officials could be summoned to testify.

The White House was today left reeling from the indictment of one of its most senior aides, Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, charged with lying to the FBI and a grand jury under oath.

SPECIAL Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald met yesterday with the grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA officer’s identity, putting the finishing touches on a two-year criminal probe that has ensnared two senior White House aides.

US Vice-President Dick Cheney was yesterday directly linked to a federal investigation into the leaking of a CIA agent’s identity.

Karl Rove, US President George Bush’s chief political adviser, will step down if indicted in connection with the leaked identity of a CIA agent, it has been claimed.

US VICE President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff could face obstruction and other charges over exchanges with a New York Times reporter people close to the case said yesterday.

New York Times reporter Judith Miller today gave prosecutors details of a previously undisclosed conversation she had with Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, adding a new dimension to the criminal investigation into the leak of a covert CIA officer’s identity.

After nearly three months behind bars, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was released after she agreed to testify about the Bush administration’s disclosure of a covert CIA officer’s identity.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush vowed yesterday that anyone found to have committed a crime regarding the leak of a CIA agent’s identity will be sacked from his administration.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush was yesterday urged to fire one of his top aides for leaking the identity of a CIA agent to reporters.

Karl Rove, US President George Bush’s chief political adviser, was one of the sources behind the leaked identity of a CIA agent, but may not have known her name, according to Newsweek magazine.

A US judge has sent a journalist to prison for refusing to divulge her source in the investigation of the leak of an undercover CIA officer’s name.

AMID new questions about US President George W Bush's determination to remove Saddam Hussein as Iraq's president, several US Democrats have called for an official inquiry to determine whether he intentionally misled Congress.

White House staff have been given until Tuesday to turn in all documents that might aid investigators looking into who leaked the name of an undercover CIA officer to a columnist.

WHITE HOUSE staff began going back through records and phone logs yesterday in search of any information relevant to the criminal investigation into public disclosure of a CIA agent’s identity.

US President George W Bush yesterday ducked questions over a White House admission that he used flawed intelligence on Iraq’s nuclear programme, while insisting he was right to oust Saddam Hussein.

US Democrats pressed for deeper investigation of pre-war US intelligence efforts after top security officials admitted President George W Bush was wrong when he said Iraq had tried to buy uranium in Africa.