Seriously, Al-Reuters actually asks this question
The only criminal trial to result from a three-year investigation of government leaks begins on Tuesday and, as in previous Washington scandals, prosecutors will focus on the cover-up, not the crime.
Rather than being charged with disclosing the identity of a clandestine CIA officer, former White House official Lewis "Scooter" Libby is accused of lying to investigators.
"The adage that the cover-up is worse than the crime is sometimes true," said Robert Mintz, a former U.S. prosecutor. "Powerful people have been brought down not by what they did but how they answered questions."
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's case may have been weakened by his decision to prosecute Libby rather than former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who has admitted he revealed CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters.
I wouldn't be surprised if this became the new liberal talking point, especially as, based on the fact that not one person, including Dick Armitage, has been actually indicted for leaking Plame's name. The best they could do was get Scooter for perjury and obstruction of justice, two charges which many have said will not survive the trial.
But, then, reality is not a big part of the "reality based community." Truthiness, sure, but not reality, nor facts. After years of complaining and bloviating, the Plame affair has f(p)lamed out.
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