US: A majority of Americans say the indictment of senior White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby signals broader ethical problems in the Bush administration, and nearly half say the overall level of honesty and ethics in the federal government has fallen since President Bush took office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News survey.
The poll, conducted on Friday night and Saturday, found 55 per cent of the public believe the Libby case indicates wider problems "with ethical wrongdoing" in the White House while 41 per cent believe it was an "isolated incident".
By a 3-1 ratio, Americans say the level of honesty and ethics in the government has declined rather than risen under Mr Bush. In the wake of the latest crisis to confront the White House, Mr Bush's overall job approval rating has fallen to 39 per cent, the lowest of his presidency in Post-ABC polls. Barely one in three Americans - 34 per cent - think he is doing a good job ensuring high ethics in government, which is slightly lower than President Clinton's standing on this issue when he left office. The survey found nearly seven in 10 Americans consider the charges against Mr Libby to be serious.
A majority - 55 per cent - said the decision of special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to bring charges against Mr Libby was based on the facts of the case while 30 per cent said he was motivated by partisan politics. "One thing you can't ever, ever do even if you're a regular person is lie to a grand jury," said Brad Morris (48), a registered independent and a field representative for a lumber company who lives in Nashua, New Hampshire. "But multiply that by a thousand times if you have power like [ Mr Libby had]. And if anybody wants to know why, ask Scooter. He's financially ruined, he'll be paying lawyers for the rest of his life."
Taken together, the findings represent a serious blow to a White House already reeling from the politically damaging effects of the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina, continuing bloodshed in Iraq, ongoing criticism about its since-repudiated claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, and the bungled nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.
The ethics findings might be particularly upsetting to a president who came to office in 2000 vowing to restore integrity and honour to a White House he said was tainted by the recurring scandals of the Clinton years.
On Friday a federal grand jury in Washington indicted Mr Libby, vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, on two counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice in the course of Mr Fitzgerald's investigation into the disclosure of the name of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame to reporters. Ms Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, has accused the Bush administration of going to war in Iraq based on intelligence officials knew was untrue. The survey of 600 randomly selected Americans represents a snapshot of initial reactions to the indictment. Those views could quickly change as the public learns more about the charges and as Republicans and Democratic leaders mount competing campaigns to shape public attitudes. Margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
In the 24 hours following Mr Fitzgerald's news conference, the survey and follow-up interviews found many Americans confused as to what, if anything, to make of the complicated indictment.
Ellen Mulligan (34), a Republican and part-time art teacher who lives in Hamden, Connecticut, was one: "If I understood what happened, vice-president Cheney's adviser spoke to his wife and then she leaked the secret," Ms Mulligan said.
That is not an allegation in the indictment, but while Ms Mulligan might not know exactly what happened, the scandal for her is both typical Washington and part of a broader pattern of ethical challenges in this administration. "My actual opinion is more, 'Here we go again.' Every administration has their secrets and has some corruption," she said.
The survey found some areas of general partisan agreement. Most Republicans (57 per cent) say the obstruction of justice and perjury charges are serious, compared to 81 per cent of all Democrats and 68 per cent of all independents. But once past the specifics of the charges against Mr Libby, Republicans and Democrats differed dramatically.
While a large majority of Democrats (76 per cent) said the case is a sign of broader ethical problems in the administration, an equally large majority of Republicans (69 per cent) said it was an isolated incident. Most Republicans continue to give Mr Bush high marks for his handling of ethics in government, while Democrats overwhelmingly grade him poorly.
The survey also suggests the emergence of an appealing fresh face in public life: special prosecutor Mr Fitzgerald. Nearly six in 10 said he brought the charges based on the facts of the case and not for partisan political reasons. Fewer than a third - 30 per cent - said Mr Fitzgerald was politically motivated.