Posted on 07/02/2007 2:45:21 PM PDT by ConservativeMan55
Edited on 07/02/2007 3:05:31 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Foxnews alert.. libby sentence commuted
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STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby’s request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.
I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby’s appeals have been exhausted. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.
From the very beginning of the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame’s name, I made it clear to the White House staff and anyone serving in my administration that I expected full cooperation with the Justice Department. Dozens of White House staff and administration officials dutifully cooperated.
After the investigation was under way, the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged.
This case has generated significant commentary and debate. Critics of the investigation have argued that a special counsel should not have been appointed, nor should the investigation have been pursued after the Justice Department learned who leaked Ms. Plame’s name to columnist Robert Novak. Furthermore, the critics point out that neither Mr. Libby nor anyone else has been charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, which were the original subjects of the investigation. Finally, critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury.
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. They say that had Mr. Libby only told the truth, he would have never been indicted in the first place.
Both critics and defenders of this investigation have made important points. I have made my own evaluation. In preparing for the decision I am announcing today, I have carefully weighed these arguments and the circumstances surrounding this case.
Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.
I respect the jury’s verdict. 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.
My decision to commute his prison sentence 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. 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.
The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted. It is my judgment that a commutation of the prison term in Mr. Libby’s case is an appropriate exercise of this power.
Hunter may have it in him, I have seen flashes, lol.
Here’s hoping.
Yup! DUers going freaking mental! Love it. All they have inside is hate. Good to see Bush commute the sentence, however, he should have pardoned him and should have done it sooner.
Oh well! Consider this a victory!
Commuting the sentence is a brilliant strategy.
If Bush had pardoned Libby, the whole case is closed. With Libby still able to appeal, it keeps the pressure on Fitzie and NBC and the Wilsons. We want to know what Andrea Mitchell knew. We want to know why Fitz kept the truth secret for so long. We want an appeals trial so the truth comes out. This can only happen if the case is kept alive. And since Libby is no longer fighting to keep is life intact, he can afford to come out all guns blazing.
Good post. Thanks for saying what needs to be said.
(Re the dismissal of the lawsuit against ATT in the "tapping" suit)
I hadn't heard that. That's GREAT!
Combined with the decisions that came down last week - they are indeed having a rotten day = after day after day.
I haven't watched a news show or talk show since the election. I simply can not take the chance of seeing pelosi or reid or any other of the traitorous rats (who don't even deserve to have their names capitalized) on the TV and then have to have my carpets cleaned from up-chucking. I check for headlines on the net - and here in FR - that's it. Unless I can personally do something about what's happening, I can no longer watch. I'm an ole granny - did my political action years...)
“Wow, they curse alot over there at that DU site.”
Is that your first experience with “leftist intellectuals”?
Someone needs to point this out to the libRats in Congress who are already calling for an investigation on Bush's action - this comes straight from one of theirs
Yours is a very intelligent reason for doing it the way he did. Unfortunately, I don't think the administration is as savy as you are. The President's remarks indicate that he took a moderate position in the hopes of not attracting too much criticism from the left. As you can see from his statement, the President chose to emphasize that his decision will still require Libby to receive punishment, rather than emphasizing that his decision will allow Libby to clear his name.
I understand people's tendency to attempt to use their own reason to make sense of the President's decisions that appear to make no sense. No matter how hard we wish, it simply isn't there.
“Someone needs to point this out to the libRats in Congress who are already calling for an investigation on Bush’s action”
Totally predictable. They’re shocked, shocked! What a phoney dog and pony show Congress is.
Gives Libby a chance to clear his name, which he has an excellent chance of doing. And takes the hysteria out of the dems. He can always pardon him if the conviction is upheld on his way out the door.
See my post #608. I am quite confident that any brilliance attained by this administration is purely accidental.
I'm waiting for THEM to do the perp walk for PERJURY and "malice aforethought"
Is there a Libby contribution web site?
Political disagreement is not the cause of “bringing upon yourself everyone thinking the worst of you”.
Not to mention, his beliefs about illegal immigration are years and years old and I knew them when I voted for him. I didn’t vote for them but for him for other reasons. Proud of the vote that was the best choice I could make under those options. Proud of much, not all, he’s done as President.
I disagree on his illegal immigration views...not totally but with the majority of it...and I don’t “think the worst of him” or that he brought others thinking the worst of him on himself.
So what’s their excuse or what’s yours? Bottom line: you choose it; it’s neither rational nor fair nor “brought on by him”.
“That liar Joe Wilson is hopping all over the neworks spreading his propaganda.”
Like I said before, let’s have an investigation into how Joe Wilson, the guy with a B.A. in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, made so much money in Washington.
and clear his name. Great news.
‘o)
Bravo, Mr. President! Bravo!!!! Heard this on Mark Levin’s program on way home - did some hollerin when I heard it!!! Way to go, President Bush!!!!!!
You’re hung up on his remarks.
His decision as a decision - whether plus or minus remarks - makes a great deal of sense to the vast majority on this thread. Dozens of excellent posts expounding upon the whys and wherefores. They aren’t reaching or straining for anything. It’s staring them and us and everyone right in the face.
I find your post a strain and a reach. You say the decision makes no sense but it’s his remarks you focus on.
Whatever...
Bush walks on water. News at eleven. Headline: Bush can’t swim.
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