President leaves fine, probation intact for
convicted ex-White House aide
July 2, 2007 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush spared former White House aide
I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby from a 2½-year
prison term in the CIA leak investigation Monday, delivering
a political thunderbolt in the highly charged criminal case.
Bush said the sentence was just too harsh.
Bush’s move came just five hours after a federal appeals
panel ruled that Libby could not delay his prison term. That
meant Libby was likely to have to report soon, and it put new
pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls
by Libby’s allies to pardon Vice President Dick Cheney’s
former chief of staff.
“I respect the jury’s verdict,” Bush said
in a statement. “But I have concluded that the prison
sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting
the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him
to spend thirty months in prison.”
Bush’s decision enraged Democrats and cheered conservatives — though
some of the latter wished Bush had granted a full pardon.
“Libby’s conviction was the one faint glimmer
of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence
and silence critics of the Iraq war,” said Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid. “Now, even that small bit of justice
has been undone.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush’s decision
showed the president “condones criminal conduct.”
Unlike a pardon, which would have wiped away Libby’s
criminal record, Bush’s commutation voided only the prison
term.
The president left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation
for his conviction of lying and obstructing justice in a probe
into the leak of a CIA operative’s identity. The former
operative, Valerie Plame, contends the White House was trying
to discredit her husband, a critic of Bush’s Iraq policy.
Bush said his action still “leaves in place a harsh
punishment for Mr. Libby.”
Libby was convicted in March, the highest-ranking White House
official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.
Testimony in the case had revealed the extraordinary steps
that Bush and Cheney were willing to take to discredit a critic
of the Iraq war.
Reputation 'forever damaged'
Libby’s supporters celebrated the president’s decision.
“President Bush did the right thing today in commuting
the prison term for Scooter Libby,” said House Republican
Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri.
“That’s fantastic. It’s a great relief,” said
former Ambassador Richard Carlson, who helped raise millions
for Libby’s defense fund. “Scooter Libby did not
deserve to go to prison and I’m glad the president had
the courage to do this.”
Already at record lows in the polls, Bush risked a political
backlash with his decision. President Ford tumbled in the polls
after his 1974 pardon of Richard M. Nixon, and the decision
was a factor in Ford’s loss in his bid for re-election.
White House officials said Bush knew he could take political
heat and simply did what he thought was right. They would not
say what advice Cheney might have given the president.
On the other hand, Bush’s action could help Republican
presidential candidates by letting them off the hook on the
question of whether they would pardon Libby.
A message seeking comment from Special Prosecutor Patrick
Fitzgerald’s office was not immediately returned.
Bush said Cheney’s former aide was not getting off free.
“The reputation he gained through his years of public
service and professional work in the legal community is forever
damaged,” Bush said. “His wife and young children
have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation.
The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect.
The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life
as a lawyer, public servant and private citizen will be long-lasting.”
A spokeswoman for Cheney said simply, “The vice president
supports the president’s decision.”
No 'pardon' mention
The White House said Bush came to his decision in the past
week or two and made it final Monday because of the ruling
of the appeals panel, which meant Libby would be going to
prison soon.
The president’s announcement came just as prison seemed
likely for Libby. He recently lost an appeals court fight that
was his best chance to put the sentence on hold, and the U.S.
Bureau of Prisons had already designated him inmate No. 28301-016.
Bush’s statement made no mention of the term “pardon,” and
he made clear that he was not willing to wipe away all penalties
for Libby.
The president noted Libby supporters’ argument that
the punishment did not fit the crime for a “first-time
offender with years of exceptional public service.”
Yet, he added: “Others point out that a jury of citizens
weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony
and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice.
They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies
on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell
the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds
the public trust, he must be held accountable.”
Bush then stripped away the prison time.
'I'm happy'
The leak case has hung over the White House for years.
After CIA operative Valerie Plame’s name appeared in
a 2003 syndicated newspaper column, Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald
questioned top administration officials, including Bush and
Cheney, about their possible roles.
Nobody was ever charged with the leak, including Deputy Secretary
of State Richard Armitage or White House political adviser
Karl Rove, who provided the information for the original article.
Prosecutors said Libby obstructed the investigation by lying
about how he learned about Plame and whom he told.
Plame believes Libby and other White House officials conspired
to leak her identity to reporters in 2003 as retribution against
her husband, Joseph Wilson, who criticized what he said was
the administration’s misleading use of prewar intelligence
on Iraq.
Attorney William Jeffress said he had spoken to Libby briefly
by phone and “I’m happy at least that Scooter will
be spared any prison time. The prison sentence was imminent,
but obviously the conviction itself is a heavy blow to Scooter.”
A White House official notified the trial judge, U.S. District
Judge Reggie B. Walton, of the decision. Walton, a Bush appointee
who served in the White House under the president’s father,
had cited the “overwhelming” evidence against Libby
when he handed down his sentence. A courthouse spokesman said
Walton would not comment.
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