Bush Pardon for I. Lewis "Scooter" Lbby.

[Procrustes Stretched]

There was no pardon for Scooter Libby, why? Did Bush believe Scooter didn't deserve one?

MSNBC
Bush won’t rule out full Libby pardon
Spokesman says president’s satisfied for now with commutation of jail term

AP/Associated Press
updated 4:36 p.m. PT, Tues., July. 3, 2007

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday left open the possibility of 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 for lying and obstruction of justice. He said the jury's conviction should stand but the 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."

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

Earlier Tuesday, chief Bush spokesman Tony Snow said Bush was satisfied with his decision to commute Libby's 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 has 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.

While Democrats criticized the president, Snow said Bush was "getting pounded on the right for not granting a full pardon."

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.

Clemency granted
With prison seeming all but certain for Libby, Bush on Monday suddenly spared Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. 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.

 

[Truthmatters]

Scooter may already be writing a book??

Bush may have in spite stopped doing what Cheney ordered him to do?

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Scooter may already be writing a book??

Bush may have in spite stopped doing what Cheney ordered him to do?

If Bush were being ordered around by Cheney you'd still have no clue.

Scooter's pardon is what Cheney lobbied for and didn't get. What was Scooter convicted of?

So the right wingnuts and the left wingnuts were both wrong about Bush and Cheney and Scooter.


gawd, and people wonder why I love politics and wingnuts!

 

[DiveCon]

If Bush were being ordered around by Cheney you'd still have no clue.

Scooter's pardon is what Cheney lobbied for and didn't get. What was Scooter convicted of?

So the right wingnuts and the left wingnuts were both wrong about Bush and Cheney and Scooter.


gawd, and people wonder why I love politics and wingnuts!

lol
so true
and truthnevermatters is a moonbat for sure

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

lol
so true
and truthnevermatters is a moonbat for sure

there is a type on the internet(s) that he is a caricature of. whether he/she/shim is truly what they present themselves to be is debatable. What is not debatable is the flavor of moonbattiness.

 

[garyd]

What was he tried for??? Good question near as I can tell being a member of the Bush administration and having a less than perfect memory. Given that Plames name was leaked by Richard Armitage, before Libby ever said anything about her to anyone and that Armitage was never charged with anything why the hell was Libby even on trial?

 

[JimH52]

There was no pardon for Scooter Libby, why? Did Bush believe Scooter didn't deserve one?



MSNBC
Bush won’t rule out full Libby pardon
Spokesman says president’s satisfied for now with commutation of jail term

AP/Associated Press
updated 4:36 p.m. PT, Tues., July. 3, 2007

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday left open the possibility of 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 for lying and obstruction of justice. He said the jury's conviction should stand but the 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.

And of course we all know now how reliable your "judgement" is, W. You frigin loser...

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

What was he tried for??? Good question near as I can tell being a member of the Bush administration and having a less than perfect memory. Given that Plames name was leaked by Richard Armitage, before Libby ever said anything about her to anyone and that Armitage was never charged with anything why the hell was Libby even on trial?

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

The Grand Jury Investigation indictment of Libby states:

Beginning in or about January 2004, and continuing until the date of this indictment, Grand Jury 03-3 sitting in the District of Columbia conducted an investigation ("the Grand Jury Investigation") into possible violations of federal criminal laws, including: Title 50, United States Code, Section 421 (disclosure of the identity of covert intelligence personnel); and Title 18, United States Code, Sections 793 (improper disclosure of national defense information), 1001 (false statements), 1503 (obstruction of justice), and 1623 (perjury). A major focus of the Grand Jury Investigation was to determine which government officials had disclosed to the media prior to July 14, 2003, information concerning the affiliation of Valerie Wilson with the CIA, and the nature, timing, extent, and purpose of such disclosures, as well as whether any official making such a disclosure did so knowing that the employment of Valerie Wilson by the CIA was classified information.[32]

According to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, Libby first learned of Valerie Wilson's employment at the CIA in early June 2003 from Vice President Dick Cheney and proceeded to discuss her with six other government officials in the following days and months before disclosing her name to reporters Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper in early July 2003. Fitzgerald asserts that Vice President Cheney told Libby about Mrs. Wilson's CIA employment as the two crafted a response to an inquiry about Wilson's trip from reporter Walter Pincus. While her name was not disclosed to Pincus, Fitzgerald asserts that Pincus's inquiry "further motivated [Libby] to counter Mr. Wilson’s assertions, making it more likely that [Libby's] disclosures to the press concerning Mr. Wilson's wife were not casual disclosures that he had forgotten by the time he was asked about them by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and before the grand jury."[78]

Libby does not dispute that he initially heard about Mrs. Wilson from Cheney, but he claims that he had no recollection of that fact when he told the FBI in October 2003 and the grand jury in March 2004 that he remembered first learning about Mrs. Wilson in a conversation with NBC’s Tim Russert on July 10, 2003.

an aside

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

What was he tried for??? Good question near as I can tell being a member of the Bush administration and having a less than perfect memory. Given that Plames name was leaked by Richard Armitage, before Libby ever said anything about her to anyone and that Armitage was never charged with anything why the hell was Libby even on trial?

really? what are the dates you are talking about?

quotes from Wikipedia:

According to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, Libby first learned of Valerie Wilson's employment at the CIA in early June 2003 from Vice President Dick Cheney and proceeded to discuss her with six other government officials in the following days and months before disclosing her name to reporters Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper in early July 2003.


In September 2003, on CNN's Crossfire, Novak asserted: "Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this. There is no great crime here," adding that while he learned from two administration officials that Plame was a CIA employee,..


In May 2006, it was reported that on September 29, 2003, the same day on which Novak made a statement on the Crossfire television program about the investigation, and three days after it became known that the CIA had asked the Justice Department to launch an investigation, Novak and Rove had a telephone conversation in which Novak told Rove he would protect him from being harmed by the investigation. According to the National Journal, "Rove testified to the grand jury that during his telephone call with Novak, the columnist said words to the effect: 'You are not going to get burned' and 'I don't give up my sources.'" When "asked during his grand jury appearance his reaction to the telephone call," the National Journal continues, "Rove characterized it as a 'curious conversation' and didn't know what to make of it."[76]

The phrase Plame Affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal, the CIA leak case, the CIA leak grand jury investigation, and Plamegate) refers to the identification of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert[1][2] Central Intelligence Agency officer.[3] Mrs. Wilson's relationship with the CIA was classified information.[1] The disclosure was made in a newspaper column entitled "Mission to Niger" written by Robert Novak, and published on July 14, 2003.[4]

 

[manu1959]

What was he tried for??? Good question near as I can tell being a member of the Bush administration and having a less than perfect memory. Given that Plames name was leaked by Richard Armitage, before Libby ever said anything about her to anyone and that Armitage was never charged with anything why the hell was Libby even on trial?

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

lying to a grand jury....bush commuted his sentence he did not pardon him...

 

[DiveCon]

What was he tried for??? Good question near as I can tell being a member of the Bush administration and having a less than perfect memory. Given that Plames name was leaked by Richard Armitage, before Libby ever said anything about her to anyone and that Armitage was never charged with anything why the hell was Libby even on trial?

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

i call bullshit
Fitz knew who the leaker was and the investigation should have ended there

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

What was he tried for??? Good question near as I can tell being a member of the Bush administration and having a less than perfect memory. Given that Plames name was leaked by Richard Armitage, before Libby ever said anything about her to anyone and that Armitage was never charged with anything why the hell was Libby even on trial?

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

lying to a grand jury....bush commuted his sentence he did not pardon him...

really? heh!

Libby was convicted of one count of obstruction, two counts of perjury and one count of lying to the FBI about how he learned Plame’s identity and whom he told. Prosecutors said he learned about Plame from Cheney and others, discussed her name with reporters and, fearing prosecution, made up a story to make those discussions seem innocuous.

Jury convicts Libby on four charges - Politics- msnbc.com

-------

Despite a “tremendous amount of sympathy” for Lewis “Scooter” Libby, jurors Tuesday found the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice.
According to one jury member, some believed Libby was being made a “fall guy” for his White House superiors.

But when it got down to the basic question facing them, there was little doubt: Libby, they easily decided, was guilty as charged on four of the five counts against him.

Speaking for the panel Tuesday after its verdict was announced, juror Denis Collins said he and his colleagues regarded this as “the least convincing thing” Libby’s lawyers put forward.
A single word Libby uttered about the case also proved telling.

In his grand-jury testimony, Libby claimed to have heard the identity of an undercover CIA operative from Tim Russert of NBC News, and to have been”surprised” to have that information come up in conversation.

The jurors did not buy it, Collins said, because the prospect that Libby had not known of Valerie Plame’s identity before then was contradicted by so many other witnesses and pieces of evidence.

After verdict, jurors call Libby `fall guy'<br> Ex-Cheney aide guilty of perjury - Chicago Tribune

 

[manu1959]

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

lying to a grand jury....bush commuted his sentence he did not pardon him...

really? heh!

Libby was convicted of one count of obstruction, two counts of perjury and one count of lying to the FBI about how he learned Plame’s identity and whom he told. Prosecutors said he learned about Plame from Cheney and others, discussed her name with reporters and, fearing prosecution, made up a story to make those discussions seem innocuous.

Jury convicts Libby on four charges - Politics- msnbc.com

-------

Despite a “tremendous amount of sympathy” for Lewis “Scooter” Libby, jurorsTuesday found the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney guilty of perjuryand obstruction of justice.
According to one jury member, some believed Libby was being made a “fallguy” for his White House superiors.
But when it got down to the basic question facing them, there was littledoubt: Libby, they easily decided, was guilty as charged on four of the fivecounts against him.

Speaking for the panel Tuesday after its verdict was announced, juror DenisCollins said he and his colleagues regarded this as “the least convincingthing” Libby’s lawyers put forward.
A single word Libby uttered about the case also proved telling.
In his grand-jury testimony, Libby claimed to have heard the identity of anundercover CIA operative from Tim Russert of NBC News, and to have been”surprised” to have that information come up in conversation.
The jurors did not buy it, Collins said, because the prospect that Libbyhad not known of Valerie Plame’s identity before then was contradicted by somany other witnesses and pieces of evidence.

After verdict, jurors call Libby `fall guy'<br> Ex-Cheney aide guilty of perjury - Chicago Tribune

one count of obstruction, two counts of perjury and one count of lying ....... looks like lying to me.....and his sentence was commuted....

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

What was he tried for??? Good question near as I can tell being a member of the Bush administration and having a less than perfect memory. Given that Plames name was leaked by Richard Armitage, before Libby ever said anything about her to anyone and that Armitage was never charged with anything why the hell was Libby even on trial?

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

i call bullshit
Fitz knew who the leaker was and the investigation should have ended there

nope, you are wrong. What was Fitzgerald investigating? The idea that knowing one source (the main one) for the leak is what the VP and others fed to have it look like a witch hunt.

Why did Fitz go forward?

In his first press conference after announcing Libby's indictment, Fitzgerald was asked about comments by Republicans such as Kay Bailey Hutchison, who said "I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality..." Fitzgerald responded, "That talking point won't fly... The truth is the engine of our judicial system.

If you compromise the truth, the whole process is lost . . . if we were to walk away from this, we might as well hand in our jobs."[17]

During Libby's trial, Judge Reggie Walton told the jury: "No evidence will be presented to you with regard to Valerie Plame Wilson&#8217;s status. That is because what her actual status was, or whether any damage would result from disclosure of her status, are totally irrelevant to your decision of guilt or innocence. You must not consider these matters in your deliberations or speculate or guess about them." During court proceedings, when the jury was not present, Walton told the court: "I don&#8217;t know, based on what has been presented to me in this case, what her status was...It&#8217;s totally irrelevant to this case...I to this day don&#8217;t know what her actual status was."[186]

read this part on Wiki: Possible consequences of the public disclosure of Wilson's CIA identity

 

[DiveCon]

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

i call bullshit
Fitz knew who the leaker was and the investigation should have ended there

nope, you are wrong. What was Fitzgerald investigating? The idea that knowing one source (the main one) for the leak is what the VP and others fed to have it look like a witch hunt.

Why did Fitz go forward?

In his first press conference after announcing Libby's indictment, Fitzgerald was asked about comments by Republicans such as Kay Bailey Hutchison, who said "I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality..." Fitzgerald responded, "That talking point won't fly... The truth is the engine of our judicial system.

If you compromise the truth, the whole process is lost . . . if we were to walk away from this, we might as well hand in our jobs."[17]

During Libby's trial, Judge Reggie Walton told the jury: "No evidence will be presented to you with regard to Valerie Plame Wilson&#8217;s status. That is because what her actual status was, or whether any damage would result from disclosure of her status, are totally irrelevant to your decision of guilt or innocence. You must not consider these matters in your deliberations or speculate or guess about them." During court proceedings, when the jury was not present, Walton told the court: "I don&#8217;t know, based on what has been presented to me in this case, what her status was...It&#8217;s totally irrelevant to this case...I to this day don&#8217;t know what her actual status was."[186]

read this part on Wiki: Possible consequences of the public disclosure of Wilson's CIA identity

anmd yet some on the jury voted him guilty because he was the only guy they could vote on

that tells me more that he was found guilty of "being a republican in DC" more so than what he was charged with

that will remain my opinion, and its not likely gonna change

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

anmd yet some on the jury voted him guilty because he was the only guy they could vote on

where do you get this? talk to some of the jurors? did you even read the Judge's instructions to the jury I posted?

that tells me more that he was found guilty of "being a republican in DC" more so than what he was charged with

that will remain my opinion, and its not likely gonna change

you are arguing with a straw man here.

Being a Republican in DC? Did you even read what Fitz, a great prosecutor (so said most everyone on all sides pre-Libby) said, that I posted?

I am not trying to change your mind. I am only posting the facts and the truth and wondering why you are resistant to considering you may be...gulp....wrong in your assumptions of what transpired and how it all went down, and wrong in your beliefs. It is possible, no? That you are wrong on some of it?

 

[del]

What was he tried for??? Good question near as I can tell being a member of the Bush administration and having a less than perfect memory. Given that Plames name was leaked by Richard Armitage, before Libby ever said anything about her to anyone and that Armitage was never charged with anything why the hell was Libby even on trial?

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

i call bullshit
Fitz knew who the leaker was and the investigation should have ended there

i disagree. knowing and proving beyond a reasonable doubt in court aren't the same thing.

i think fitzgerald is an honest man doing his job to the best of his ability.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Fitz knew Armitage was a source, the primary one, but Fitz didn't believe Armitage knew that Plame's relationship with the CIA was classified information.

Libby obstructed a federal investigation that was ongoing.

What was he convicted of? Bush agreed with the convictions, not the sentence.

i call bullshit
Fitz knew who the leaker was and the investigation should have ended there

i disagree. knowing and proving beyond a reasonable doubt in court aren't the same thing.

i think fitzgerald is an honest man doing his job to the best of his ability.

hey del,..

btw, Fitz did NOT go after Libby as the leaker. Libby obstructed justice and thought he had cover. He didn't. He and his boss were so used to bullying their way over everyone in Washington...before Fitz got a grip on their assess.

But my mind keeps going back there because I bump into lots of people like Dive. Almost like a head in the sand denial. They heard or read a version of what was happening and it is like challenging their world view.

Fitz, was a prosecutor called in by the Bush Justice Dept. There was no witch hunt.

There was a media frenzy to get Libby, but Fitz was as immune to that as Bush was to the demands of a pardon for Libby.

and if the public outcry for Fitz and Bush with the pardon demands by the GOP and cons don't work, then there are conspiracies?

 

[DiveCon]

anmd yet some on the jury voted him guilty because he was the only guy they could vote on

where do you get this? talk to some of the jurors? did you even read the Judge's instructions to the jury I posted?

that tells me more that he was found guilty of "being a republican in DC" more so than what he was charged with

that will remain my opinion, and its not likely gonna change

you are arguing with a straw man here.

Being a Republican in DC? Did you even read what Fitz, a great prosecutor (so said most everyone on all sides pre-Libby) said, that I posted?

I am not trying to change your mind. I am only posting the facts and the truth and wondering why you are resistant to considering you may be...gulp....wrong in your assumptions of what transpired and how it all went down, and wrong in your beliefs. It is possible, no? That you are wrong on some of it?

come on dev, you even quoted it