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.

FORMER White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby was convicted yesterday of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI in an investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity to reporters.