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Reaction to CIA leak indictments
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Statements made Friday after the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on counts of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements: "Mr. Libby has informed me that he is resigning to fight the charges brought against him. I have accepted his decision with deep regret ... In our system of government an accused person is presumed innocent until a contrary finding is made by a jury after an opportunity to answer the charges and a full airing of the facts. Mr. Libby is entitled to that opportunity." "This is a very serious matter, and compromising national security information is a very serious matter... We need to know the truth. And anyone who would go into a grand jury and lie, obstruct and impede the investigation has committed a serious crime." Today ... is not the time to analyze or to debate. And it is certainly not a day to celebrate. Today is a sad day for America. When an indictment is delivered at the front door of the White House, the office of the president is defiled. No citizen can take pleasure from that." "As so often happens with Washington scandals, it isn't the original scandal that gets people in the most trouble -- it's the attempted cover-up." "[The charges] suggest a senior White House aide put politics ahead of our national security and the rule of law .... It is about how the Bush administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq." "Out of respect for our system of justice, everyone needs to take a deep breath and not judge those involved until it has been proven they are anything other than innocent. Today's announcement is the middle of the process, not the end." "The criminal indictments of a top White House official mark a sad day for America and another chapter in the Republicans' culture of corruption. At the heart of these indictments was the effort by the Bush administration to discredit critics of its Iraq policy with reckless disregard for national security and the public trust." "Today's indictments represent the beginning, but not the end, of the process of finally holding the Bush administration accountable for its conduct in foisting a pre-emptive war on this country. " "Today's indictment of the vice president's top aide and the continuing investigation of Karl Rove are evidence of White House corruption at the very highest levels, far from the 'honor and dignity' the president pledged to restore to Washington just five years ago." 
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