WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Defense attorneys say charges against former White House aide I. Lewis Libby should be thrown out because the special prosecutor doesn't have legal authority.
Libby, a former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is charged with perjury, making false statements and obstructing justice in the investigation of the leak of a CIA operative's name. Prosecutors charge the agent's name was revealed in retaliation for her husband's stance against the White House's argument for war in Iraq.
The Justice Department appointed Patrick Fitzgerald as a special counsel to investigate the allegations. Libby's lawyers, in a court filing Thursday, say such an appointment should have been made by the president and so the charges against Libby are invalid, The Washington Post reported.
Legal experts told the Post, however, the ploy isn't likely to succeed since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1988's Morrison vs. Olson protects special counsels from such tactics.
Libby's case is to go to trial next January.
