WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Congressman John F. Tierney (D-Salem), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement today following the announcement of the five count criminal indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and national security advisor, by a federal grand jury:

“It was with the utmost professionalism that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald conducted this twenty-two month investigation to find out if someone in the White House leaked covert C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame’s identity to a reporter in retaliation for her husband’s opinion article challenging the President’s evidence for going to war in Iraq.

Intelligence is critical to our homeland security. It is imperative that we protect our agents in the field who collect valuable information at great personal risk for the sake of protecting the safety of our citizens and the security of our nation.

It is absolutely outrageous if Mr. Libby misled investigators as they conducted this very serious investigation. The American people deserve to know whether top officials in the Bush Administration revealed the identity of Ms. Plame as a backdoor political maneuver."

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