Posted on 07/02/2007 2:56:38 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term on Monday, issuing an order that commutes his sentence.
This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby cannot delay his 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case, a federal appeals panel unanimously ruled Monday.
The decision is a major setback for Libby, who is running out of legal options and who probably will have to surrender to prison in weeks. The ruling puts pressure on President Bush, who has been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Libby was convicted in March of lying and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. He is the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.
Libby believed he had a good chance of overturning the conviction on appeal and asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to put the sentence on hold. In a two-sentence ruling, the court refused.
The White House had no immediate reaction to the decision.
Libby's supporters, who raised millions of dollars for his defense fund, immediately renewed calls for a pardon.
"I hope it puts pressure on the president. He's a man of pronounced loyalties and he should have loyalty to Scooter Libby," said former Ambassador Richard Carlson, a member of Libby's defense fund. "It would be a travesty for him to go off to prison. The president will take some heat for it. So what? He takes heat for everything."
Attorney William Jeffress said only that Libby's defense team was weighing its options.
Those options are dwindling, however. The most likely move is an appeal to Chief Justice John Roberts, but it's unlikely that Roberts would overturn a unanimous ruling to spare Libby prison. Barring such an intervention, it seems only Bush could spare Libby prison time.
Roberts is a Bush appointee but judicial politics haven't helped Libby so far. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, who sentenced Libby and refused to delay the prison term, was a Bush appointee. Two of the three appellate judges who denied Libby's request Monday were appointed by Republicans.
Last week, the U.S. bureau of Prisons designated Libby as federal inmate No. 28301-016. He soon will receive a time and place to surrender. The agency tries to place inmates close to home, which means candidates include prisons in Cumberland, Md.; Petersburg, Va.; Fairton, N.J.; Fort Dix, N.J. and Schuylkill, Pa.
As a first-time offender, Libby likely would be assigned to a minimum-security prison camp, where inmates sleep in bunks arranged in small cubicles with shared toilets. Whether drug dealers, insider traders, tax cheats or disgraced politicians, all prisoners are ordered to strip and submit to cavity searches on their way through the doors.
Bush and Cheney have said throughout the case that they felt sorry for Libby's wife and children. But Bush has publicly dodged questions about whether he plans to pardon Libby or commute his sentence.
The leak investigation was a political cloud over the Bush administration for years. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald interviewed Bush and Cheney and ordered key White House aides to testify before a grand jury.
Nobody was charged with leaking Plame's identity but Libby was convicted of lying about his conversations with reporters regarding the outed operative. Fitzgerald says his investigation is complete.
The appellate judges who turned down Libby's request were: David Tatel, nominated by President Clinton; David Sentelle, selected by President Ronald Reagan; and Karen LeCraft Henderson, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, father of the current president.
damn it’s a riot to read their nutzoid posts huh?
Not quite “Way to Go”. He could have pardoned Libby, and surely would have, had LIbby’s name been Estrada or some such.
They don’t deserve their sentence either.
I think the following is Update to original article posted,, new title, also author is named.
Bush commutes Libby prison sentence
BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070702/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_trial;_ylt=Akz65GIydOphhMkoaRs2_e8D5gcF
WASHINGTON - President Bush commuted the sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby on Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term that Bush said was excessive.
Bush’s move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That meant Libby was likely to have to report to prison soon and put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby’s allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.
“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 left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, and Bush said his action still “leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby.”
Libby was convicted in March of lying to authorities and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative’s identity. He was the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.
Reaction was harsh from Democrats.
“As Independence Day nears, we’re reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said through a spokesman.
Libby’s supporters celebrated.
“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.”
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.”
I’m with you on that! Let’s do that - give Rush teh credit, and he really deserves it anyway.
Let's go one further: Impose a tax of .02% that goes to a fund given to Scooter.
We can call it the "What a Swell Guy" fund.
Only Democrats would be forced to pay it.
Say what?
This will buy back the good graces of the Party faithful after that immigration disaster.
You're just saying that because they are hispanic.
Thanks. I managed to find it this time. I thought it would be entertaining to read their posts. I was wrong. Such abysmal ignorance/stupidity [you choose] isn’t funny. It’s depressing.
A pardon could come later.
This will buy back the good graces of the Party faithful after that immigration disaster.
—
I don’t know. Consider it a down-payment for many, at best. ;-)
I think you're right.
Good point. The appeals process will proceed and there is still a possibility of it being reversed, slim though it be.
Rush really does run the country—
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_070207/content/01125113.guest.html
1) He could have done nothing and let Scooter rot in jail while he fought the conviction and kept airing out the facts
Scooter would get a great play by Conservative radio and other Internet media.
2) He could have pardoned Libby and the whole thing would become a moot point, as all legal proceedings would be over and it would be good only for DNC and WAPO fodder to spread for years.
3)He could commute Scooter and let him continue to fight the good fight, airing all of the facts in ongoing court proceedings as Scooter fights to clear his name and bringing this up continually in the Court System and, more important, the court of public opinion, which will still get great airtime as Scooter does the radio circuit and PR after each court appearance.
And thats what he did. - I believe that Scooter stands a very good chance to be vindicated, and that during the run-up to 08. -D@mn near perfect.
Hahahahahahahahaha . . . .
Oh wait, you’re serious?
Not even close.
This is a politically interesting move. I would hope the administration can funnel money to cover his fine and attorney fees so it would make his sentence essentially probation and the loss of his job.
But rather than the full pardon Libby probably deserves, Bush has found a way to remove the harshest part of the punishment while NOT making it appear as if the conviction was meritless (in an attempt to blunt criticism from the media and the Left).
I’m not sure what Bush is afraid of. There are no 2008 candidates running on Bush’s coattails so it would be hard to pin them to a full pardon if Bush did it. If I were Libby, I probably would still be upset that his reputation has the taint of a conviction but that part is still under appeal.
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