Libby prepares request for new trial

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.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was found guilty of perjury and obstruction in the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity. He is the highest-ranking White House official convicted in a government scandal since the Iran-Contra scandal two decades ago.