Bush, Cheney praise Libby and his service

Bush stared at a reporter who asked if he was embarrassed by the charges.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney volunteered glowing endorsements and expressed no criticism of I. Lewis Libby on Friday as the senior White House adviser was indicted, resigned and lost his security clearance.
Cheney called Libby "one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known."
Bush said, "We're all saddened by today's news."
Libby, known by his nickname of "Scooter," was Cheney's chief of staff, national security adviser and close confidant. He was accused of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to a federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's name by someone in the administration.
"Scooter has worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people and sacrificed much in the service to this country," Bush said. "In our system, each individual is presumed innocent and entitled to due process and a fair trial."
Bush watched about 15 or 20 minutes of a televised news conference by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald about his two-year investigation that led to Libby's indictment.
Later, the president glowered at NBC News reporter David Gregory, when he shouted at Bush, "Are you embarrassed by these charges?" The president had to walk within a few feet of the correspondent to get to his helicopter on the South Lawn, and Bush stared hard at Gregory as he continued to shout questions.
Bush flew to Camp David, his mountaintop retreat in Maryland, for the weekend.
Architect of war
Libby was a driving force behind the administration's march to war against Iraq and helped assemble evidence -- later proven false -- asserting that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, which became the rationale for the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
After weeks of suspense and anxiety, there was an obvious sense of relief at the White House that Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, had escaped indictment, although he remains under investigation. Apparently told in advance that he wouldn't be indicted, Rove waved to photographers from the window of his home Friday morning.