The White House began a series of ethics classes for its more than 3,000 staff members on Tuesday, following the indictment late last month of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President's former chief of staff, in the CIA leak investigation.

All White House employees were required to attend the lectures over the next two weeks on ethical behavior and the handling of classified documents, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The sessions this week were reserved for staff with security clearances.

Among the attendees at Tuesday's first lecture, given by Richard Painter, the White House attorney who handles ethics issues, were Andy Card, the White House's chief of staff, and President George W. Bush's counsel Harriet Miers.

Karl Rove, the deputy chief of staff and Bush's top political adviser, was expected to attend one of the classes on Wednesday.

Libby, who had also served as national security adviser to Cheney and an assistant to Bush before his resignation, was indicted on Oct. 28 for his role in unmasking the identify of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative, whose husband was critical of the Bush administration's prewar assessment of Iraq's weapons capabilities.

Libby was charged in a five-count indictment, including obstruction of justice, two counts of making a false statement and two counts of perjury. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in jail and a 1.25 million US dollar fine.

Libby resigned after he was indicted, and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Rove, who was also involved in the leak case, has not been charged but remains under investigation.

Source: Xinhua