The Libby indictment – I’ll get to my thoughts on the fallout of today’s events later tonight but for now I have a simple legal question: what exactly is the difference between “perjury” and “false statements?” It seems to me that perjury means that you knew something was untrue, but said it anyway. “False statements” may or may not imply such intent; as such, I can’t see how it can be illegal. Am I missing something here? I’ll have to check some legal blogs later.

Follow-up – Poster Eric J writes: “Perjury- lying under oath. False statement- lying to the FBI or other fed official. Separate statutes, but both illegal.” Now we know. I thought that all crimes related directly to the grand jury.