The Twisted Scooter Trail

David Corn

January 25, 2007

David Corn is the Washington editor of The Nation and the co-author, along with Michael Isikoff, of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War. He is covering the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial for The Nation.

Here’s a primer for those of you who have not obsessively followed the CIA leak case of Scooter Libby now underway.

Who is I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby?

He is the former chief of staff and national security adviser for Vice President Dick Cheney. A neocon in fine standing, he was a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq. He helped assemble the first draft of Secretary of State Colin Powell’s U.N. speech laying out the case for war. That draft contained allegations about Saddam Hussein’s WMDs that were so flimsy that Larry Wilkerson, Powell’s chief of staff, tossed it aside. Before serving as Cheney’s top aide, Libby was a corporate lawyer. His most prominent client was fugitive financier Marc Rich (who was pardoned by outgoing President Clinton). Libby has written one novel, which contains graphic scenes of sexual bestiality. He is married to a former Democratic congressional aide.