There was a lot of sympathy on the jury for Libby. What are we doing with him? Where's Rove, where's these other guys? It seemed like as Wells said, he was the fall guy. The jury believed he was tasked by the Vice President to talk to reporters. We never discussed what Cheney would have told him to say.
Was he covering for the VP? We didn't discuss it because it wasn't in front of us. Opinion had very little to do with it, the facts were right in front of us. We took every count and went back over all the testimony, we reviewed motive, believability, state of mind.
We didn't do a straw vote right away. There was too much. Re: Cooper. There was confusion by someone about whether the truth of the statement was the point or whether the issue was whether he had said that. (note: someone, not some people, indicating one juror.)
The Cooper false statement count: His version vs. Mr. Libby's version. The evidence that he had said "I heard that too" was not in his story that day. He had nothing in his notes about it. They had a reasonable doubt about how he typed the sentence.
He thought Tim Russert was very credible.
The vote was 11 to 0. (Later he says, 9 to 2 on Cooper count at first.)
Some jurors felt sympathetic towards Judith Miller. They thought she seemed nice and got "ragged on."
Fitzgerald is at the microphone: The results are sad. We wish it didn't happen but it did. Thanks everyone. They are gratified by the jury's verdict. He's taking questions. No responsible prosecutor would have walked away from charging Libby. It was clear Libby lied about learning about Mrs. Wilson from Tim Russert Any lie under oath is serious. We cannot tolerate perjury. The truth is what drives the judicial system.
We don't talk about people not on trial. He won't talk about the Vice-President. Mr. Libby did not tell the truth. He harmed the system.
Now he's asked about his closing statement at trial saying there is a cloud over the White House. He won't amplify.
Is the investigation over? He doesn't expect to file further charges. We're all going back to our day jobs.
[Partial video of Fitgerald's video is here.]
Ted Wells is speaking: We are disappointed in the jury's verdict. This jury deliberated for approximately ten days. Despite our disappointment in the verdict, we believe in the American justice system and the jury system. We will file a motion for a new trial and if that is denied, we will appeal. We have every confidence Libby will be vindicated. We said at the time of the indictment that he is innocent and did not do anything wrong. We will keep fighting.
Update: There may be comments by jurors and the White House or Vice President's office will have comments in a few minutes.
Update: Sentencing is June 5. Libby is released on bail. Stay tuned for press conferences, if there are any .
End of live blogging. If you have questions, you can submit them at the WaPo live chat I'll be doing in 45 minutes.
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The jury has a verdict. It will be read at noon. I will be live-blogging it here and at Huffington Post, and then doing a live chat at 2PM ET for the Washington Post.
Any minute now the verdict will be in. The parties are in the courtroom. Just to recap:
Count 1: Obstruction of Justice
Counts 2 and 3: False Statements to FBI Investigators in fall of 2003
Counts 4 and 5: Perjury to Grand Jury in March, 2004
