WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush has commuted the prison term of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, facing 30 months in prison after a federal court convicted him of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.


Bush commuted the jail sentence of convicted White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Earlier Monday, a federal appeals court unanimously ruled that Libby could not delay his sentence.

The charges relate to the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

Libby was only weeks away from surrendering to a prison.

Bush was under great pressure by Libby allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

In a written statement issued hours after that ruling, Bush called the sentence "excessive." But he also rejected calls for a pardon for Libby.

"The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting," Bush said.

But he said Libby was given "a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury."

Libby was the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.

The conviction remains on Libby's record and he still has to pay a $250,000 fine.

Commutations are rarely granted, says CNN's chief legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. A commutation is a total right of the president and it cannot be challenged by any attorney or court, he said.

It means that Libby will still have the conviction on his record -- unless he is able to overturn it on appeal, which he will likely continue to pursue.

A pardon is a complete eradication of a conviction record, making it appear as if the person has never been convicted. It's possible that Bush could still grant Libby a full pardon.

Are you surprised?

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/anthraxcoverup.php

Bush did not pardon Libby he merely commuted his sentence. Big difference. The conviction is still on his record.

Point here is Paris will have done more time than old Scooter. That in itself is pretty disgraceful.

yeah there is a big difference ...a pardon is a forgiveness of a crime..........i.e....legally erase what happened ...

a commute is a lessening of the punishment.......i.e. reduce the amount of punishment but the incident hasn't been erased and is still on your record....

the bigger question is what will be the political fallout?

I hope that voters remember in November that Cheney's involvement was covered-up by Libby and Bush put his seal of approval on the whole deal. The bottom line is that this government is trying to send the proprietor of this forum to prison for filming consenting adults having sex, but condones a stonewall and cover-up involving the reasons for starting a war that has to date cost the lives of more than three thousand American service men and women. on Bush and Cheney.

Yeah...i'm sure that felony will follow him around for at least the next few months until we forget about it. Can Bush then pardon Libby on his way outta office? Think that fine is gonna really hit him in the wallet...my ass. He'll be fucking a fucking judge in the Arabian Horse Association next year. All these fucking douchebags just laugh while they shit all over the decent people of this country.
politicians

Why would Bush not do this? He shows support for his pal and really can't sink lower in the media and public opinion area anyway.

The best thing about these types of Republican outrages is watching the right wingers contort themselves in their attempts to justify them.


Worst. President. Ever.

I'm waiting to see which one of you posts the lengthy list of Clinton pardons in response. Don't kid yourselves that any politician is trustworthy with this kind of power.

The Clinton pardons, like Bush I's pardons (remember Cap Weinberger?) were mostly made at the end of their terms. This is a unique situation, coming a year and a half before the end of W's term.

I was wondering how long it would take for them to bring up Bill Clinton...

The fact that some sleazy, tool of Cheney's stays out of prison is a small price to pay for the added destruction to this failed administration. The Republican party has shown themselves to be completely apart from the mainstream of this country and thank god they will continue to pay in the Polls.

Quote:

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so it's the timing not the actual commutation, not a pardon, that bothers you?

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actually the timing is perfect...just like the usual Friday News Dump/Justice Department resignations...Doing this on an extended Fourth of July holiday week is perfect. The only thing missing is a Terror Alert.

pathetic.

Bush won't rule out Libby pardon

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday refused to rule out an eventual pardon for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

"As to the future, I rule nothing in and nothing out," the president said a day after commuting Libby's 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case.

Bush said he had weighed his decision carefully to erase Libby's prison time. He said the jury's conviction of Libby should stand but that the 30-month prison term was too severe.

"I made a judgment, a considered judgment, that I believe was the right decision to make in this case," the president said. "And I stand by it." At the same time, he left the door open for the possibility of a pardon later.

Bush spoke to reporters Tuesday after visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. His decision was roundly criticized by Democrats; Republicans were more subdued, with some welcoming the decision and but some conservatives saying he should have gone further.

Earlier Tuesday, chief Bush spokesman Tony Snow had declined to rule out the possibility of an eventual pardon and called the president satisfied with his decision to commute Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence.

"He thought any jail time was excessive. He did not see fit to have Scooter Libby taken to jail," Snow said.

The spokesman told reporters at a White House briefing that even with Bush's decision, Libby remains with a felony conviction on his record, two years' probation, a $250,000 fine and probable loss of his legal career. "So this is hardly a slap on the wrist," Snow said. "It is a very severe penalty.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who sentenced Libby to prison, declined Tuesday to discuss the case or his views on sentencing. "To now say anything about sentencing on the heels of yesterday's events will inevitably be construed as comments on the president's commutation decision, which would be inappropriate," the judge said in an e-mail.

With prison seeming all but certain for Libby, Bush on Monday suddenly spared the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. His move came just five hours after a federal appeals court panel ruled that Libby could not delay his prison term. The Bureau of Prisons had already assigned Libby a prison identification number.

Snow was pressed several times on whether the president might eventually grant a full pardon to Libby, who had been convicted of lying and conspiracy in the CIA leak investigation. The press secretary declined to say anything categorically.

"The reason I will say I'm not going to close a door on a pardon is simply this: that Scooter Libby may petition for one," Snow said. "But the president has done what he thinks is appropriate to resolve this case."

"There is always a possibility — or there's an avenue open — for anybody to petition for consideration of a pardon," he added.

Snow did suggest that Bush was "getting pounding on the right for not granting a full pardon."

Asked whether Cheney — who calls Libby a friend and who has enormous influence within the White house — had pressed for Bush to commute Libby's sentence, Snow said, "I don't have direct knowledge. But on the other hand, the president did consult with most senior officials, and I'm sure that everybody had an opportunity to share their views."

"I'm sure that the vice president may have expressed an opinion ... he may of recused himself. I honestly don't know," Snow said.

However, the president made the decision without seeking any advice from the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Justice Department, the White House had previously acknowledged.

Snow defended Bush's decision to not follow the usual course of running the matter past the Justice Department, saying details of the case were still fresh in everybody's mind, and that the president did not need to be brought up to date on details of the case.

Democrats have charged cronyism in sparing Libby jail time. But Snow said, "The president does not look upon this as granting a favor to anyone, and to do that is to misconstrue the nature of the deliberations."

"He spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to maintain the faith in the jury system, and he did that by keeping intact the conviction and some of the punishments," Snow said.

Snow was asked by a reporter if anyone in the administration would ever apologize for what prompted the entire investigation — public disclosure that Valerie Plame, the wife of sharp anti-war critic Joseph Wilson, was an undercover CIA officer.

"Yeah, it's improper to be leaking those names," Snow said. Pressed on whether someone in the administration owed the American public an apology, Snow said, "I'll apologize. Done."

Wilson, meanwhile, suggested the president's decision was a cover-up attempt to protect Cheney and perhaps his own office. He said Congress should investigate whether the president and Cheney were obstructing justice. "It's about them," Wilson told MSNBC from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Wilson, Plame and their children moved to Santa Fe earlier this year.

In an interview with APTN, Wilson called Bush's action "a continuation of the cover up for which Scooter Libby was originally convicted."

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald disputed Bush's assertion that the prison term was excessive. Libby was sentenced under the same laws as other criminals, Fitzgerald said. "It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals."

Libby's attorney, Theodore Wells, said in a statement that the Libby family was grateful for Bush's action and continued to believe in his innocence.

Because he was not pardoned, Libby remains the highest-ranking White House official convicted of a crime since the Iran-Contra affair.

That didn't stop an avalanche of criticism from Democrats.

"Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's decision showed the president "condones criminal conduct."

bush ain't gonna let his boy get raped in jail for 2 1/2 years.He dont care if its fair or not I can't wait till bush is out of office next year.

I can wait. I used to couldn't wait til Clinton was out. I thought he was the biggest embarrassment of a President we could have. Since he's left I did some research and learned that a few have been worse.

Harding, Grant and Buchannan probably being the worst of the worst. Though even the best of them aren't always that great.

Jefferson is one of the best of the lot even if he wasn't concerned about the gene pool.

Maybe the fact that Jefferson hated the job was why he was so good.

Jefferson was great because he was curious about the world...so different from ...well i aint gonna say it cuz King will call me a terrorist kisser again!

Plus who can blame him for fuckin with his hottest slaves. I bet she had an ass he just couldn't avoid.

"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word many mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny."

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Address at Sanitary Fair, Baltimore, Maryland" (April 18, 1864), p. 301-302.

I've always held that Jefferson, while a first-rate political theorist, was a lousy practical politician. The Embargo Act was a disaster. His tenure as Governor of Virginia was a Fiasco. And, together with Madison, he formented Nullification, Secession and the States' Rights movement with the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions.

But, for all that, he was a fascinating guy: Deist, man of the Enlightenment, advocate of the separation of church and state and author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, author, inventor, founder of the University of Virginia and the modern Library of Congress, oenophile, gourmet... and of course Author of the Declaration of Independence, whithout which we'd be speaking in faggy British accents and wouldn't be drinking this early on a Wednesday.

Irving Lewis Liebowitz is an interesting character and a bit of a novelist. An Attorney for Marc David Reich (Marc Rich) - an interesting resume for sure:

http://judicial-inc.biz/lewis_libby_aka_Irving%20Lewis%20Liebowitz.htm

We as the American Nation are paralyzed and seem incapable of confronting the treason and criminality operating in plain sight. The avalanche of lies and crimes committed has reached a deafening crescendo.

Hey, LePen? It's the Fourth of July for christ's sake. Ixnay on the Jew=Baiting for just this once and celebrate what's right about America. Like your (ever-dwindling) right to enjoy Pornography.

Oh, and if you want to go blaming the Rothchilds for everything, well, that's your right. But it's "Bauer," not "Baurer." You might want to make a note of that.

Okay, back to celebrating.

Clinton pardoned his friends, Reagan pardoned his friends, Johnson pardoned his friends, and now Bush will pardon his friends. And so it goes........Now if Bush would just pardon Max & Jeff....

Here are some opinions from FOX Fans (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287931,00.html):

"Since President Bush is now creating our laws, it is my understanding that the law should be applied equally. I expect that a rush of ex-perjurers will be leaving our prisons soon. Thank goodness we have that one cleared up." — T.

"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. What part of that is hard to understand?" — T.

"Libby was convicted of committing serious crimes while in a high office of trust. By commuting his sentence, Bush has undermined our justice system, and acted above the law." — K.

"Yes, he should receive a full pardon. In my opinion this was a scam orchestrated by an bunch of unscrupulous left-wing liberals and one like-minded judge." — S.

"I think it's a complete outrage that this administration simply walks over the laws of this country as if they only apply to Americans who are not associated with the White House. I will absolutely not vote for a Republican in the upcoming election. No matter how well qualified an elective Republican senator, congressperson, state senator, state assemblyperson or city counselor is, my vote will go to either an Independent or a Democrat. I am aware that Democrats are not always straight and honest, but this president and his cronies have showed us how corrupt this administration can be. They have taken corruption to the limit." — D.R.

"A jury convicted Scooter Libby. Whatever we may think of the merits of the case, he should still do his time in prison. Otherwise we make a mockery of our judicial system." — Philippe

"Bush said that the commutation leaves in place a harsh punishment for Libby, citing the effect of the felony conviction on Libby's professional life. That's a joke. Libby can, and probably will, earn six or seven digits per year on lecturing circuits, as a lobbyist or consultant, writing a book, etc. The idea that a person of Libby's rank in the Republican hierarchy will ever suffer professionally is purely laughable. But that's what Bush has always done since day one — when he speaks, it's sound-bite politics, not reality. He's very good at it, and it works." — H.

"I am a conservative and I believe in the rule of law. Libby was justly convicted on four felony counts of obstruction of justice. He should go to jail just like other wealthy and/or powerful people who became criminals: Leona Helmsly, Chuck Colson, Dan Rostenkowski, Martha Stewart, Jeffrey Skilling, and even Paris Hilton. Bush's statement that the commutation is justified by Libby's 'lifetime of service' is absurd. Was Libby ever in the military? Did he earn a medal for his military service? Did he write a book that changed America or the world? Did he ever win a landmark case as a lawyer? Did he invent a cure for a disease? They (Bush and Cheney) just kept Libby out of jail so Libby wouldn't sing like a canary. It was sad when Clinton got away with perjury, and this is even worse. We are turning into a banana republic in which the powerful are above the law." — David (San Diego)

"It took a few minutes for it to sink in ... that after 1.) lying in a federal investigation run by a conservative guy like special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, 2.) being tried by a jury of his peers, and 3.) sentenced to jail, Libby does not have to pay for his crime? Why did the government waste taxpayers' monies for this dog and pony show? It is too shocking to believe. This government is much more corrupt than I ever imagined. Libby should serve time in prison like all others that break the law." — E.

"Mr. Libby should absolutely be pardoned. Moreover, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald should be aggressively investigated. This modern-day Torquemada now five days into his investigation that Richard Armitage was the one who leaked Valerie Plame's name, yet he still pressed on with his 'investigation.' I can only hope he suffers the same fate that Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong did: disbarred, disgraced, and utterly humiliated." — John (Los Angeles, CA)

"This administration takes yet another step to show that it is above the law. The only thing Libby deserves is the sympathy of the nation as he has clearly taken the fall for the 'good' of Cheney and the rest of the leaking culprits in the White House. There is absolutely no accountability in this administration. Bush's actions (and inactions) make it ever more difficult for the country to get behind the Republican candidates for president. Bush is paving the way for Clinton and/or Obama in '08. He may as well be contributing to their campaigns." — Wiley (Columbia, SC)

"Bush needs a mental evaluation after the commuted decision. The judge's sentence was 'dead on' for the crime committed. If Bush pardons Libby I will have lost all faith in our political system." — Frank (Flower Mound, TX)

"He should have at least served as much time as Paris did. We have a new justice system — everyone gets an 'out of jail free' card if you are a Bushy — if not you get Bushwhacked. — DeWayne

"This is yet another example of the Bush administration's lack of respect for ethics, justice, and most importantly, the value of the rule of law. An administration that continually acts as if it is above the law should not be allowed to remain in power. What will it take for Congress to finally take up the discussion of impeachment?" — David (Dallas, TX)

Correction noted and applied. It's time we stand up for America and quit posturing.

My question is: do two wrongs make one right?

No but three lefts do.

HoustonDon, logic is useless on this one. Most sane and informed people realize that commuting Libby's sentence doesn't amount to a hill of beans, but not the board tranny.

Libby was involved in a crime commited by this administration. Bush keeping him from doing any time insures that Libby would not be tempted to spill further beans if this investigation were to continue. That is how this is different from Clinton's pardons.

Jesus Christ turn off the talk radio and use some logic.

Bush's commutation of Libby's sentence short-circuits any investigation into Cheney's role in this affair. Richard Nixon was a pussy compared to Cheney. Cheney has learned how to stonewall hard enough and use the power of the presidency to carry forward a successful cover-up and dare anyone to do anything to stop him.

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