President Bush commuted the sentence of former aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case.MORE: From the NYT:
Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.
Bush's move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case.
“I respect the jury’s verdict,” Mr. Bush said. “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 30 months in prison.”
Like a pardon, a commutation is a form of clemency, granted to the president by the Constitution. But a pardon is an official act of forgiveness, whereas a commutation simply reduces the penalty, without making an official judgment of forgiveness.
Mr. Bush has been urged by some conservatives to grant Mr. Libby an outright pardon.
The president noted in his statement that that the decision to commute “leaves in place 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,” Mr. Bush said. “His wife and young children have suffered immensely. He will remain on probation.”
AND: Earlier in the day, there was glee from some quarters when the Court of Appeals denied Libby's motion for release pending appeal. Firedoglake:
What this says to me is that Libby — or, as I like to call him Inmate 28301-016 — is headed to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect anything.
[COMMENTS SECTION]
is the frog marching?...
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!....
Scooter Libby, convicted felon, is going to prison.
4th of July present. Barbeque and drinks all around…
The Fitz of July?
ADDED: If you want to know what I think, click the "Libby" label below. I've got nothing new to say.
Posts
206 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 206 of 206This is not a partisan issue--breaking the law should have consequences
Indeed, which is why the whole presidential pardon process is a joke. It's nothing more than political favors whether its Scooter, Marc Rich, deserters or Puerto Rican terrorists.
And for those of you on the Left who thump your chest in righteous anger over Plame's outing, were you just as outraged over Sandy Berger stealing and destroying classified NSA documents? What about all the other classified leaks that have occurred during the course of the administration? Did those get equal time?
If not than you're nothing more than a bunch of posers.
Hoosier, you have a point with Berger. The problem with Berger, however, is that he's been given a different punishment and no one tried to commute it--even when many thought it to be insufficient for his misdeed. There's the rub--we don't actually know what his misdeeds were.
But can one be prosecuted for obstruction of justice for successfully hiding the evidence of his own alleged crime? If that theory is to hold water, certainly there should be no objections to prosecuting anyone for trying to hide evidence of the crimes of others, which is what Libby was found guilty of. [Of course, the defense that no one was actually found guilty of the underlying crime is idiotic, since this would essentially encourage people to cover up crimes for their relatives, bosses or friends--the argument amounts to claiming that if no one is found guilty, there should be no prosecution for procedural crimes, such as perjury and obstruction; yet, this is exactly the opposite of the intent of the laws in place.]
As for the rest of alleged revelations of classified information, note that in virtually every case the underlying problem was that classification was intended to conceal an illegal, if not criminal, act by government agencies. The revelation in the Plame case had no such underlying purpose (to expose an illegal activity)--in fact, it was done to subvert the exposure of illegal activities.
There is a cheap solution to all these problems--put bolts and bars on the White House doors and windows and cut off all communications. Just make sure that the entire enterprise is inside first.
"The problem with this mode of thinking is that it simply rehashes the original White House talking points that have been resoundingly debunked by evidence and testimony."
Untrue.
I remain completely unbothered by the truth about Plame's involvement coming out. In fact, I remain thrilled that it did come out.
The problem was with lying under oath.
The problem with Berger, however, is that he's been given a different punishment and no one tried to commute it--even when many thought it to be insufficient for his misdeed.
I'm not disputing that. I am questioning the self righteousness of those who yawn over Berger stuffing classified documents in his knickers and the vitriol expressed over Libby.
Alpha Liberal,
You can post all you like about NBC printing that Plame was covert but when Judge Walton after examining all the papers from the CIA and from Fitzgerald could not conclude whether she was covert or not, that rather destroys your NBC posting. When the people who wrote the act that determines if someone is covert or not say that she did not meet the requirements to be covert, that also says something you cannot refute.
When the lawyers of the CIA cannot produce the paperwork to prove that Plame was covert that also tells you something.
Fitzgerald was a loose cannon who went far beyond his task to make this case and then the judge would not allow the defense to call Andrea Mitchell in open court to refute Russert's testimony without giving her a dry run with no jury. The whole thing was tantamount to a lynching.
Dick,
Oh please, it was not tantamount to a lynching and you should be ashamed of yourself for even suggesting that it was.
Post a Comment