I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s trial unfolded Tuesday as a classic Washington potboiler involving the president, the vice president and the CIA, played out within blocks of the White House and drenched with tension.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald opened the trial by telling the jury of 16 Washingtonians that Libby, in an effort to deflect accusations that Vice President Dick Cheney allowed President Bush to mislead the country into war, revealed the identity of a CIA agent to reporters and then lied to authorities investigating this leak.