Legal

Scooter scot free

pO157.

Posted to Legal on Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 03:50:20 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

In a somewhat anticipated move, President Bush granted clemency to Lewis Libby, former Chief of Staff to the Vice President.

Mr. Libby had been sentenced to 30 months in prison for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements in the Valerie Plame affair. Despite pending appeals the judge in the case refused his request to stay out of prison in the interim. As the Bureau of Prisons assigned him an inmate ID code his road to prison looked almost certain unless a pardon or commutation came through.

In his statement announcing the commutation, President Bush stated "I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive." He later added that Mr. Libby, a lawyer by training would still receive "...a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. 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. "

Valerie Plame's husband, Joe Wilson, reacted to the news by accusing the President of obstruction of justice, "I think there is a very real suspicion now that the president himself is an accessory to obstruction of justice in this matter" and stating that "[B]y commuting Mr. Libby's sentence, has guaranteed that he will be under no incentive whatsoever to tell the truth."

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Tags: edited by port1080, written by pO157, Lewis Libby, Scooter Libby, scandal, Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson, Leak, President Bush, George Bush, Pardon, Commutation, Prison, Jail, Fine, Sentence, criminal, law, legal, politics, white house (all tags)
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5

Why Bush Commuted Libby's Sentence Now.

MayorBob.

Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 09:51:45 PM EST

5.00 (interesting, astute)

  1. Libby had lost an appeal to postpone his incarceration, so if Bush didn't grant him this huge favor, Libby would have been bunking down in circumstances far different from his normal living arrangements.

  2. Bush says he doesn't dispute the guilty verdict, just the harshness of the sentence.  Reading between the lines, I'll just add "for now" to that sentence.  Because I'm convinced that Bush will move heaven and earth to keep one of the inner circle for paying any price for actions committed while serving him.  He'll wait for the appeal to move forward and hope that Libby gets a friendly hearing there.  If not, I'd be willing to bet that he'll grant a full pardon to Libby, thereby removing the conviction and felon status from his record.

  3.  Bush is entirely within his rights to grant anyone he pleases a pardon or commute a sentence -- thus there isn't any possibility of impeachment.  There isn't a shot at that unless the Democrats turn into the same wolfpack of slavering animals the Republicans were after Clinton.

  4.  Finally, Bush got Libby off the hook because it's a fairly well-established fact that guys named Scooter don't do well in prison.

Illegitimi non carborundum.

1

I Don't Care About Libby

thefadd.

Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 03:57:55 PM EST

4.00 (interesting)

But I'm still mad as hell nobody else hung for this fiasco. What happened to Plame is one of the most wrong things this administration has done.

make it rain you nappy headed ho's

2

^ 1

Oy, Now You've Done It

uncarved block.

Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 06:07:48 PM EST

none

    Are you ready for the surge of comments explaining in detail why Valerie Plame wasn't covert, and how Joe Wilson is such a wicked man? Some arguments will never end, and I fear this will be one of them :)
    Oh, and here's a little tidbit from Slate about how out of character this move is for the administration. Interesting.

Ex ignorantia ad sapientiam; e luce ad tenebras

13

^ 1

Re: I Don't Care About Libby

nmiguy.

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 01:30:49 PM EST

none

What happened to Plame is one of the most wrong things this administration has done.

I see you haven't been paying too much attention then.  I mean, starting a war, ringing up trillions in debt, Pissing off the rest of the world, not getting Osama for 9/11, Domestic wiretapping, torture at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, Political pandering to the bible belt on stem cell and Terry Schiavo, teh firing of prosecutors, THE IRAQ WAR and mission accomplished.  Honestly, Plame's outing was wrong, but it doesn't make the top ten list of Bush wrongness.  Valerie Plame will no longer be a spy, but she is a celebrity now.  She'll be fine.  She IS fine.  She seems resilient and smart enough to recover fully from the Bush malfeasance.

14

^ 13

Re: I Don't Care About Libby

thefadd.

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 01:42:21 PM EST

none

For or against the Iraq War is a political issue. Personally, I think we're doing the right thing there right now. But the intelligence community is something that we should all be able to agree is above political games. If we value having solid intelligence to back our standing in the world, it's something we must all value and put aside for petty backstabbing. That's why the ouster of Plame was nothing short of treason. The other sensitive contacts and businesses that Plame was connected to were ALL compromised and many were in fact shut down. The leak cost the US years of intelligence work in establishing foreign front companies and contacts that extend FAR beyond Plame herself.

make it rain you nappy headed ho's

15

^ 13

Re: I Don't Care About Libby

Lou.

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 02:26:42 PM EST

none

Wow...you make is sound as if Bush sucks or something.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine

3

oddly enough

wetkarma.

Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 06:43:49 PM EST

none

I find myself agreeing with this move on the part of the President. The man did lie and he -should- have gone to jail, but the circumstances surrounding his sentencing seems to me that he was being punished harshly not so much for what he did, but more so for who he was. To that extent I agree with the President that the sentence was excessive.

I also give the president props for taking a middle road -- commuting the sentence but keeping the conviction. To me it seems like justice - especially when the people who DID leak (Armitage) face no jail team whatsoever.

Memory is a strange bell, jubilee and knell.

4

^ 3

Re: oddly enough

thefadd.

Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 07:19:49 PM EST

4.00 (interesting)

The latest news is that the middle road, which you're right is astutely inoffensive, may not be legal. The judge doesn't think the law allows for Libby's probation without having served any prison time and has asked for briefs from the prosecution and the defense.

make it rain you nappy headed ho's

6

^ 4

Re: oddly enough

gerrymander.

Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 01:15:16 PM EST

none

So what you're saying is the judge will force Bush to give Libby a full pardon? Sweet.

7

^ 6

Re: oddly enough

jwb.

Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 10:13:38 PM EST

4.00 (funny)

Actually I believe he was saying that you can't expect an MBA with a cocaine habit to know anything about the law.

9

^ 4

Re: oddly enough

pO157.

Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 01:43:03 PM EST

none

Is that why when you read celebrity sentencing documents on TheSmokingGun.com where they are given probation only the sentence usually includes 1 day of prison time with 1 day of credit given for their time in the police station during the initial arrest?

That makes sense now.

12

^ 9

Re: oddly enough

thefadd.

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 01:12:53 PM EST

none

I never noticed that but it did make me wonder because you hear about people "just getting probation" all the time. That would make sense now.

So now that he's paid the fine, would Libby get that cashiers check back if he's fully pardoned? And why did he pay up so quickly if he still expects a pardon?

make it rain you nappy headed ho's

18

^ 12

Re: oddly enough

Lou.

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 04:11:11 PM EST

4.50 (funny, funny)

So now that he's paid the fine, would Libby get that cashiers check back if he's fully pardoned? And why did he pay up so quickly if he still expects a pardon?

He post dated the check to 1/20/09

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine

17

^ 12

Re: oddly enough

pO157.

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 02:58:50 PM EST

none

So now that he's paid the fine, would Libby get that cashiers check back if he's fully pardoned? And why did he pay up so quickly if he still expects a pardon?

At first thought I had no idea. The prison system has got to be crammed with people who had tons of fines attached to them and no way to pay. The Unabomber, for one. However, those types of people are usually without assets. I would imagine "Scooter" would have a ton to lose if the feds asked the sheriff to enforce the fine by seizing his property and financials. That is the only reason, in my mind, why he paid up so quickly.

8

^ 3

Re: oddly enough

pO157.

Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 09:19:32 AM EST

none

So the stopgap move is a-okay, but what about the pardon that is coming in ~16 months?

11

^ 8

Re: oddly enough

wetkarma.

Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 07:11:48 PM EST

none

So the stopgap move is a-okay, but what about the pardon that is coming in ~16 months?

Well assuming that you are cynically right, he still at minimum would lose the $250k he had to pony up as a fine for his lies. I doubt the government will be giving that back --- although if he gets a full pardon shouldn't it be given back?

I believe giving him a full pardon would be wrong. However, looking at the larger picture (the power to grant clemency), I'm in favor of the office of the president having wide latitude in granting pardons. Ultimately what constrains the shenanigans of excusing people who cover up for the crimes of the executive office is the american electorate -- if they wanted guarantees that someone would serve jail time, they shouldn't have re-elected this administration in 2004.

(The Plame outing occured in 2003 whereas Scotter was charged in 2005).

Memory is a strange bell, jubilee and knell.

10

Free & Clear

pO157.

Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 02:30:48 PM EST

none

Looks like he just paid his debt to society.

16

Liberals. Feh.

gerrymander.

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 02:42:50 PM EST

none

They bitch and moan about how horribly the US treat convicts and how sentencing over the smallest offenses is unfair. But the first time a conservative does anything about it, they bitch and moan again.

19

^ 16

Re: Liberals. Feh.

airbag.

Sun Jul 08, 2007 at 02:37:17 PM EST

5.00 (funny, funny)

What an exciting idea; this gesture on Bush's part signals a new development in the history  of compassionate conservatism. If you are correct, the Libby commutation will be just the first of many such acts of mercy by the President.

It can't be long before those who claim the administration has done this merely to protect themselves will be embarrassed by their ungenerous assumptions.

20

^ 19

Free Mumia!

thefadd.

Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 02:20:24 PM EST

none

see subject

make it rain you nappy headed ho's

21

^ 20

Bush hasn't the authority.

MayorBob.

Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 09:08:35 PM EST

none

Mumia's a prisoner of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, tried and convicted of murder in that state.  Bush's pardon and commutation powers only extend to federal prisoners.

Illegitimi non carborundum.

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