One lesson to be drawn from Scooter Libby's dreadful experience at the hand of the federal justice system is this: Always be truthful. But there's another one: If you hold a high position in government, never talk to the FBI about anything you might or might not remember. And if you're hauled before a grand jury, clam up and claim the Fifth Amendment.

Libby, the former chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted Tuesday of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI. He was the only person charged in an investigation of who, in 2003, leaked the name of a CIA employee in a public controversy over the start of the Iraq war.

The issue was who said what to whom when. Libby's statement on these points were contradicted by various witnesses including White House officials, reporters and commentators.

One important point, though, got lost in the prosecution. It was that there was no crime to investigate because by the time the FBI was quizzing Libby, the special prosecutor in the case already knew who the leaker was. It was Richard Armitage, a State Department official, who had spilled the name of the CIA worker inadvertently.

So here's Libby facing prison time for failing to remember - or trying to mislead in the prosecution's view- investigators who were investigating something that was not a crime and not really important, except in a political sense, and the principal fact of which - the main leaker's name - was already known to the investigators.

For that, Libby faces a possible prison term.

Which brings us back to the lesson: When people make statements from memory, they are often wrong. And if they're wrong when being interviewed by the FBI, they may, if they are a big enough target involved in public controversies, be charged with a grave crime and have their lives ruined.

So if you're ever in that kind of a spot, unlikely as that may be, you're better off not saying anything at all. (hh)