Posted on 06/14/2007 11:29:49 PM PDT by Baladas
Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr.'s bid to remain free on bond pending an appeal of his conviction was denied yesterday by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton.
With pressure mounting on President Bush to grant a pardon in the case, Judge Walton said he would not delay Libby's 30-month prison sentence, which was handed down June 5. It is expected that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons will select a facility to house Libby, and he will reportwithin six to eight weeks.
"Unless the court of appeals overturns my ruling, he will have to report," said Judge Walton, who handed down the ruling after determining that the evidence of Libby's guilt was "overwhelming" and warning the vice president's former chief of staff that he was unlikely to win a reversal of his conviction in the appellate court. Libby, 56, was convicted in March on four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI in an investigation into the disclosure of the identity of CIA Agent Valerie Plame.
Mr. Bush has been silent on the possibility of a pardon, saying only through a spokeswoman he felt "terrible" for the Libby family. A delay of the sentencing date would have given the president more time to consider the issue but Libby's pending incarceration is expected to accelerate any decision.
The White House yesterday said the president intends to continue to stay out of the case while Libby "still has the right to appeal."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Unca Dick will prevail. Always does.
He and the left have set the President up to pardon Libby; then they can kick off a new weeks-long media frenzy with a new issue with which to attack the President.
The Constitution gives presidents the power to grant “reprieves and pardons.” The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted that language to include pardons, conditional pardons, commutations of sentence, conditional commutations of sentence, remissions of fines, as well as forfeitures, reprieves, respites, and amnesties. A respite delays the execution of a sentence. It does not address issues of due process or guilt or innocence. It merely suspends sentence for a designated period of time. George Washington granted the first respites in June, 1795, when he delayed the execution of two men who fought in the Whiskey Rebellion — both of whom were eventually pardoned.
The typical respite lasts between 30 and 90 days. But many times, initial grants have been followed by a second and third respite, or as many additional respites as were necessary. Woodrow Wilson delayed the six-and-a-half-year prison sentences of two men with nine respites because an “investigation of the facts” had taken “considerable time” — 13 months to be exact. Wilson also delayed the five-year sentences of W.G. and S.G. Simpson with three respites before pardoning them. The men were described as “guilty,” but it was noted they had made a “strong showing” that they had not intended to commit a crime. Howard Showalter lost his appeals, but his five-year sentence was delayed by Wilson for eight months before a pardon was granted over the strenuous objections of the judge and U.S. attorney. Robert Sidebotham’s 13-month sentence was delayed for over a year (with eight respites) because Wilson concluded it was “doubtful” Sidebotham “realized he was violating the law.” A pardon followed. There is, in short, a long history to the use of the respite.
Don’t forget that there’s a deal on the table, though it’s not likely to be accepted.
Leniency would be tempting if a pardon wasn’t anticipated.
Something stinks and its to embedded Klintonites still in the DC systems.
No amnesty for Libby, he doesn’t qualify for a Z Visa.
Libby might not complain if he could get a cell by Paris Hilton. :)
“Libby might not complain if he could get a cell by Paris Hilton. :)”
She has herpes...
Not to mention Clintoon and his antics before a grand jury. No get-out-of-jail free cards for dumocrats, witness lackey William “Refrigerator Cash” Jefferson who still sits in the Congress, along with impeached Judge Alcee Hastings and the aforementioned bag man, Sandy Berger.
I think he would be better off winning on appeal than having Bush pardon him. But if all else fails, I think Bush should go before the American people, make his case against a renegade court and pardon Libby. It would be a tragedy for him to go to jail on something like this after all he has given in service to his country. I have lost all faith in our judicial system.
I hope that President Bush will go ahead and pardon Mr. Libby. With Mr. Libby having already spent so much of his time and money, and now facing incarceration, it's hard for me to see any justification for waiting any longer for appeal to the judicial branch. Let the executive use its prerogative and pardon him.
Why should Libby be pardoned? He committed perjury, just like Clinton did, so let his suffer the consequences. I don’t see the slightest support for giving him a pardon from my fellow conservatives and don’t believe “the base” really finds this to be an issue.
If George doesn’t pardon Libby, he’s gonna get impeached and nobody in the GOP will lift a finger to help him. He needs to pardon Libby and shove it in the rats’ faces; one way would be to publically SELL Libby a pardon ala SlicKKK for 20 dollars, and use the 20 to send out for pizza.
Fred should make this a campaign issue.
Exactly. Let him go to jail, just like Clinton did.
Exactly.
In spite of 12 of some of most respected legal minds filing a brief saying JUST THE OPPOSITE! What a freaking moron!
In Judge Walton’s view, he found the amicus briefing to not be wrothy of consideration....as if it was written by first year law students. He stated he thought the amicus briefing was submitted to intimidate him.
There was no chance that Walton would admit he made grievous errors in this case. I look forward to the appeals overruling Walton on the bail and on the case overall.
He shamelessly favored Fitzy from day one; Libby did NOT get a fair trial and that blame goes to the judge.
President Bush will respond when needed, but until then, he will let the appeals process run its course. If Libby is told to go to jail, Bush will commute or issue the respite....a pardon will not be issued unless Libby fails in the appeals court.
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