Lewis Libby, better known “Scooter’, is an American lawyer and a former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney. In October 2005, Libby resigned from his post as after his he was indicted on five federal counts as a result of the Plame affair, in which a CIA agent’s covert identity was revealed to the public. Valerie Plame was a covert CIA intelligence officer whose identity was leaked to the press by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Libby was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and one count of making false statements to investigators. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, which was controversially commuted by President Bush.
With that, let’s take a look at Libby’s career, beginning with his net worth.
Scooter Libby Net Worth 2018: $15 Million
Despite going to jail and his political shortcomings, Libby has managed to earn a sizable fortune over the course of his career. Through his work as a lawyer and member of the Bush white house, Libby has amassed a Net Worth in the area of $15 Million. Let’s take a look at his career and see how he got here.
Early Years
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Libby was born in New Haven, Connecticut and grew up in a family of particular affluence. His father was an investment banker.
Libby and his brother Hank were the first members of his family to graduate from college. Libby attended Yale where he graduated magna cum laude in 1972. He went on to Columbia Law School in 1975.
The origins of his nickname “Scooter” is believed to have come from his father, who upon seeing Lewis crawling in his crib, who joked “He’s a Scooter!”
Law Career
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Following his graduation from Columbia, Libby went on to join the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis LLP in Philadelphia, becoming admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. He would practice law for over six years when he would join the US State Department for a period of three years, before eventually returning to law.
He would work with two different law firms in the Washington DC area during the 1990s, including the law firm that US President Richard Nixon once worked at. He worked on the Marc Rich case, in which a former commodities trader was convicted of working with the government of Iran, a known adversary of the United States.
White House Years
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In 2001, Libby was tapped by Vice President Dick Cheney to serve as his Chief Of Staff. In this capacity, Libby served as Cheney’s most trusted advisor and confidant. Libby became heavily involved in the Bush administration’s attempts to broker a serious peace solution between the Israelis and Palestinians. He became so involved with the Israelis, that it was once said by Jack Straw, a British politician, that it was “a toss-up whether [he] is working for the Israelis or the Americans on any given day.” He was said the most pro-Israel member of the early Bush administration.
He also argued that there should be a universal smallpox vaccine, for which he earned the nickname “Germ Boy” at the White House.
Plame Affair
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By far, Libby is most well known for his involvement in what has become known as the “Plame Affair.” This scandal, in which Valerie Plame’s identity was leaked to the press. Plame had been serving as a CIA officer and whose status as an agent was confidential. It was suspected that Libby was the one who leaked this information to the press, but it was discovered to be Richard Armitage. Libby was investigated for lying to the investigators tasked with looking into the case. He was convinced on four of the five charges leveled against him and sentenced to 30 months in jail.
His sentence would be commuted (lessened) by President Bush, but he would still be forced to serve some time as well as pay a fine of $250,000 and do 400 hours of community service.
On April 13th, 2018, Libby was pardoned by President Donald Trump, a move that was seen as highly controversial by much of the general public.
