Posted on 07/02/2007 8:47:31 PM PDT by freespirited
President Bush limited his deliberations over commuting the jail term of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to a few close aides, opting not to consult with the Justice Department and rebuffing efforts by close friends to lobby on Libby's behalf, administration officials and people close to Bush said yesterday.
"We were all told to stay away from it," said an old Bush friend from Texas who is close to Libby and would not speak for attribution. "When we called over there, they said the president is well aware of the situation, so don't raise it. None of us lobbied him because they told us not to."
For the first time in his presidency, Bush made a decision to commute a sentence without going through a process of running requests through lawyers at the Justice Department, White House officials said. He also did not ask the chief prosecutor in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, for his input, as routinely happens in cases routed through the Justice Department's pardon attorney.
...A lot of people are going to be bitter about this," said one prominent Washington conservative ... "The president praises Fitzgerald and basically accuses Scooter of lying. He's parsing this down the middle, which is not the way Scooter's friends see it. People are happy that he's not going to jail, but this is not what people were hoping for."
...In many respects, Bush's statement explaining his decision suggests a classic political compromise.
Despite the anger felt by GOP partisans towards the special prosecutor, Bush was careful to be respectful of Fitzgerald, describing him as "a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Scooter should not have even been charged.....it’s the freaking Democraps that did all of this.
Meadow Muffin
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
The best decisions are usually made alone. As Maggie Thatcher put it, “Consensus is the absence of leadership.”
The ineffable Paul Begala had the gall to refer to Fitzgerald as a Republican prosecutor.
I’m glad Scooter is not going to jail. Now, about those Marines, Soldiers and Border Patrol...
To paraphrase Bill Clinton, not a single hungry child would be fed by Scooter Libby going to jail.
not surprising.
bushes are loyal to those they hire.
Fitzgerald's job was to prosecute Republicans. So, the Forehead's statement was technically accurate.
HOORAY President Bush!
This was no surprise. Libby was not going to prison. The President does what he believes is right, and he willingly takes the heat.
He has always done that, and he’s also capable of taking the heat.
Short and to the point:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/07/the_libby_commutation.html
Quote:
It seems that after Clinton’s FALN clemency, the House passed a bill “Expressing the Sense of the Congress that the President Should Not Have Granted Clemency to Terrorists.” A number of now-outraged Democrats voted against the bill, including House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, now speaker, didn’t vote. But she later explained that she was against criticizing the president’s decision:
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, on the last vote, H. Con. Res. 180, I was detained in traffic while returning to the Capitol. Had I been present, I would have voted “no.”
Exactly!
This pardoning of Scooter Libby smacks of the corruption that was evident in the Clinton administration. As Bill Clinton’s term wound down, if my memory serves me correctly, didn’t he pardon a bunch of people who in some form or fashion were close to him (i.e. monetary donations, golfing buddies, etc.). Simply put, Bush really needs to step down ... this guy has no clue as to what is going on in the world. And now this. I wonder how many CIA operatives or CIA associates had their cover blown by Scooter’s outing of the CIA woman (sorry, I forgot her name). I bet some people aren’t six feet above ground any longer now. Such corruption. Evil administration.
Front 242
With a vacation on appeal, Fitzslime would be legally wrong and judged to have operated outside the law, restoring Libby's reputation and rights. A pardon would make this point legally impossible to achieve.
However, Bush does not make good use of any legal backing he gets by taking it to the bully pulpit and forcing it into the MSM, and he is playing catch up, if he is trying to legally vindicate Libby with this process. It would have been much easier and absolutely effective to control the investigation and Fitzpervert from the start, and whitewash the control of the investigation again from the bully pulpit, making it a sure win.
Day late and dollar short.
You obviously didn’t follow this story very closely, did you?
Bush has more dirty work lined up for Fitz, and Libby always was expendable. The ‘compassionate conservative’ is a man without a heart.
There was another president who said something about pleasing the people; this president probably understands the quote better than most. He has left the appeals process in place but has made it known that the sentencing was excessive, which is was for a supposed perjury unrelated to the original charge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.