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.
I was worried that President Bush might not do this. I have been praying for this. If GW had not done this, I would not have felt very good about him.
Love you Mr President, sorry I doubted.
BTW I believe he did this for the right reason, not for the support he might get from the RIGHT.
Personally I think the traitors that turned their backs on the Prez are gone for good anyway.
Sorry I missed that......:-)
Whatabunchacrap!
"Perjury has to be material - it has to relate to what you're investigating.
If the investigation is about a non-crime, when you know who did it, how could anything be material to that?"
-- former federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani.
I was so wrong to judge the President's decision by his own justifications for it. You made me see the light.
2. Does, "they don’t want what’s right for America” sound familiar? If so, do you really think the level of arrogance cited here is insufficient reason for the offended to “think the worst” of Bush, right now? And, did he not bring it upon himself?
BTW I, too, knew he was an open-borders guy both time I voted for him.
Just as with the firing of the 8 US Attorneys = the DEMONIACS had nothing to say about Bill Clinton dismissing EVERY US Attorney when he seized power.
Mark Levin is VERY pleased with our President today! So am I!
Yeah, I feel bad for them. Wait — no I don’t! ;’)
Thank God, Mr. President, for not allowing this total injustice to proceed unchecked!
So W was the judge and jury for Berger? Isn’t that what courts are for? Nothing like taking some good news and try to turn it into a slap at the president.
Dear God, let Russert be charged with perjury! Should I live to see that day, I will have to dance in the street again!
Schumer Flashback [Kathryn Jean Lopez]I think it would make Dems like Schumer go nuts if President did pardon Pollard right now.Schumer called for clemency for Jonathan Pollard, convicted of spying on the United States.
And his conditions for clemency? “If three conditions are met: ‘no danger is posed to society, real contrition is shown and the sentence is disproportionate to others who have committed similar crimes.’”
07/02 09:57 PM
TRUE! This should have been the end of this whole pseudo-investigation-witch-hunt right here. Good for Pres. Bush!
No wonder they are at 13 percent "snicker*
NIce, now what about those border guards serving time for shooting a known drug smuggler?
God bless President Bush.
The president did a good thing today, but he did not walk on water.
It doesn’t matter that he was a scumbag to us. You summarize his Presidency as a FReeper might. FReepers don’t write history, liberals do.
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