White House supports Cheney despite conviction of top aide

THE White House offered support yesterday for Vice President Dick Cheney, a powerful proponent of the Iraq war, after the conviction of his top aide dealt a fresh blow to Cheney’s political reputation and raised new questions about his influence.

The trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby showed Cheney was deeply involved in an effort to discredit a critic of the administration’s prewar intelligence.

Libby’s conviction on perjury and obstruction of justice charges placed Cheney in the centre of a political storm. Democrats said Libby was “the fall guy” for his boss, who was not charged and was not called to testify. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has said there will be no more charges and the investigation is inactive.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Cheney would remain an influential and trusted adviser to President George W Bush.

“To the idea that somewhere the vice president has been ‘diminished’ ... No, not true,” Snow said. “The vice president is somebody upon whose counsel the president depends.”

As the jury deliberated, Cheney completed an international trip making the administration’s case against Iran’s nuclear ambitions and for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Publicly he may be scarred, he’s a damaged commodity, but the question is whether he still has clout in the administration and the answer has to be yes,” said Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution.

With neither Bush nor Cheney destined to appear on a political ballot again, Cheney’s political liabilities are less crucial, Hess said.