Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:

"SCOOTER" LIBBY FOUND GUILTY ON 4 OUT OF 5 COUNTS INCLUDING OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN CIA LEAK CASE

Re: Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

Wasn't there some sort of bet about this on Politics?

Re: Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

What are the odds he does NOT get pardoned?

Re: Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

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What are the odds he does NOT get pardoned?

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A little blurb from the journal:

Republicans Could Push for Pardon
By JOHN D. MCKINNON, GARY FIELDS and EVAN PEREZ
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
March 6, 2007 12:42 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The conviction of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on four of five counts is likely to prompt influential Republicans to push for a presidential pardon since they see the former aide as a victim of prosecutorial excess.

But a pardon for Mr. Libby would create a fearsome political backlash against the White House just as Congress is gearing up to hold hearings on the administration's use of intelligence to justify the Iraq invasion.

Further complicating the prospects for a pardon: President Bush's has rarely exercised his pardoning authority and has done so mostly for non-controversial cases. With just under two years left in office Mr. Bush has pardoned 113 people. Among the seven presidents who have held the office at least seven years since 1897, Mr. Bush ranks last in his use of the pardon power in the first six years of his administration.

Rest of Article (paid subscription required--sorry)

Re: Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

Question, though: wouldn't many pardons occur right before the President leaves office? No real danger of losing political capital at that point. Anyone have statistics or a general sense of whether that is the case? If it is, then Bush having made fewer pardons may or may not be meaningful at this point.

Re: Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

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Question, though: wouldn't many pardons occur right before the President leaves office? No real danger of losing political capital at that point. Anyone have statistics or a general sense of whether that is the case? If it is, then Bush having made fewer pardons may or may not be meaningful at this point.

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Yep. His only concern is further screwing the Republican party for house/sentate/white house control, but i'm curious if he could simply pardon Libby after the Presidential elections.

Re: Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

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Question, though: wouldn't many pardons occur right before the President leaves office? No real danger of losing political capital at that point. Anyone have statistics or a general sense of whether that is the case? If it is, then Bush having made fewer pardons may or may not be meaningful at this point.

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Good observation. 140 pardons were handed out on Clinton's last day.

Re: Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

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Question, though: wouldn't many pardons occur right before the President leaves office? No real danger of losing political capital at that point. Anyone have statistics or a general sense of whether that is the case? If it is, then Bush having made fewer pardons may or may not be meaningful at this point.

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Good observation. 140 pardons were handed out on Clinton's last day.

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Dubya has a history of very few pardons even while governor of Texas. He had only 18 in 5 years, and if he does it, it will probably be for lessor known/less controversial figures, not Libby. Of course Cheney could just try to force it out of him too.

Interesting tidbit: Marc Rich, the controversial guy Clinton pardoned, was represented by Libby. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] Small world, especially in Washington.

Re: Libby guilty on 4/5 counts
 

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Question, though: wouldn't many pardons occur right before the President leaves office? No real danger of losing political capital at that point. Anyone have statistics or a general sense of whether that is the case? If it is, then Bush having made fewer pardons may or may not be meaningful at this point.

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Good observation. 140 pardons were handed out on Clinton's last day.

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Dubya pardoned less people as governor of Texas than anybody since the 40s and his daddy has one of the lowest number of pardons in presidential history. Smart money is on him continuing his very slow pardoning rate through his last days in office.

A Complete Crock.....
 

A complete crock. There was no way Libby would get a fair trial in the heavily democratic Washington, DC. So Armitage walks and Libby gets convicted for having a crappy memory... If it were Armtiage being sent to prison, I wouldn't blink an eye.... I think the man is a lying weasle.

I heard on the news today one of the questions the jury submitted to the judge this morning was, <font color="blue"> 'Was it a crime fro Libby to lie to Matt Cooper?' </font> *. Matt Cooper is the journalist from Time Magizine. My god how stupid can a jury be. This alone tells me there were 11 nitwits passing judgment on Libby'.

*This is not an exact quote of the question. I was driving and listening to the radio so I could not transcribe the question word-for-word.