Lewis “Scooter” Libby was accused of lying to FBI agents and a grand jury investigating the leak. He now faces a trial in which Mr Cheney, and possibly even President Bush, could be key witnesses.

The five indictments came at the end of one of the worst weeks in Mr Bush’s presidency, with the US death toll in Iraq passing 2,000 and his choice of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court derailed by a revolt within his own Republican party.

Mr Bush said that he was “saddened” by Mr Libby’s indictment but that he and his White House “remained focused”. The President’s approval ratings had already plunged over his handling of the Hurricane Katrina emergency.

Karl Rove, Mr Bush’s chief adviser who had been under investigation, was not indicted yesterday. Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, implied that charges were unlikely.

Mr Libby’s obstruction of justice, perjury and false statement charges stem from a two-year investigation into whether any White House officials deliberately leaked the name of Valerie Plame, the CIA agent, whose husband had become a critic of the Bush Administration over the war in Iraq.

The charges raise the prospect of a trial turning the spotlight on how the Administration built its case for war and on Mr Cheney. He was named in indictments but not accused.

Mr Libby, 55, is accused of lying about how and when he learnt about Ms Plame’s identity in 2003, and how he came to pass information about her to reporters. The indictment states that Mr Libby told investigators that he learnt about Ms Plame’s CIA status from an NBC journalist.

Instead, he learnt it from Mr Cheney, the indictment says, thrusting the Vice-President to the heart of the scandal.

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