Bush to commute Libby sentence

[adios]

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....Wasn't he involved in the cover-up of Richard Armitage leaking the identity of a covert CIA agent? ...

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No.

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Humor me ... how would you describe his involvement in this sordid affair?

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Plame was neither covert nor did he hide anything about Armitage's linking of the name. Fitzgerald knew Armitage had leaked the name to Novak before he asked Libby quesiton uno. I'm sure you'll dredge up some links stating that Plame was indeed covert. Funny that Armitage didn't get changed with any crime in fact Libby was the only person charged. It was a perjery trap pure and simple. Here's an article that states the issue better than I:

Fitzgerald never had any reason to believe that there was a crime to be solved in the "CIA leak case." Nothing in the U.S. code purports to make talking about Valerie Plame a crime. Fitzgerald never had any legitimate grounds for pursuing a criminal investigation because he never had even the theoretical possibility of a crime to investigate.


His own conduct strongly suggests that he knew this from the beginning. If Fitzgerald really believed that there was something criminal about revealing Valerie Plame's identity he would have filed charges against at least two defendants on the day he took over the case. Richard Armitage and Robert Novak were both guilty of discussing Plame and Fitzgerald knew it on day one. But he filed no charges. Why not? Probably because he knew that neither Armitage nor Novak nor anyone else had violated any law by talking about Valerie Plame.


Since Fitzgerald had no crime to investigate, the sole purpose of his investigation, even before it became his, was to keep asking questions until discrepancies in the testimony made it possible to convince a bent jury that somebody important lied under oath. This despicable game is a clear violation of the Fifth Amendment and it cannot result in a lawful conviction for perjury.

[reno expat]

The sentence was commuted and not pardoned. Does this mean that George Bush believes that Scooter Libby is, in fact, guilty of a crime? In his statement he said that he wanted to respect the jury's verdict but thought the fact that Judge Walton (whom he appointed to burnish his tough on crime credentials) was too harsh in going beyond the parole board's recommendation. If this is the case, why not commute 12 months of the sentence and reduce it to 18 months which is squarely in the range suggested by the board.

Does he believe that lying to a grand jury and obstruction are crimes that should not require jail time? Will he be commuting the sentence of others who did the same thing or is it only OK if it was done in the course of working for his administration? To me, this is the death knell for the law and order conservative.

[niss]

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The sentence was commuted and not pardoned. Does this mean that George Bush believes that Scooter Libby is, in fact, guilty of a crime? In his statement he said that he wanted to respect the jury's verdict but thought the fact that Judge Walton (whom he appointed to burnish his tough on crime credentials) was too harsh in going beyond the parole board's recommendation. If this is the case, why not commute 12 months of the sentence and reduce it to 18 months which is squarely in the range suggested by the board.

Does he believe that lying to a grand jury and obstruction are crimes that should not require jail time? Will he be commuting the sentence of others who did the same thing or is it only OK if it was done in the course of working for his administration? To me, this is the death knell for the law and order conservative.

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YES! Great post. Bush's position is NOT that Libby did not commit a crime (notwithstanding all of the brilliant legal minds here who are arguing otherwise), it is that, in his opinion, the sentence was too harsh.

There certainly are cases where a sentence meted out is not proportional to the crime, either as a result of a bonkers judge, a crazy law, and/or an overzealous prosecutor. The kid in Georgia seems to be that case. But this? Participating in a cover-up about blowing the cover of a covert agent who is working on behalf of the USA? In retribution for *her husband's* political views? Disgusting. He didn't get enough time.

[Copernicus]

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[YES! Great post. Bush's position is NOT that Libby did not commit a crime (notwithstanding all of the brilliant legal minds here who are arguing otherwise), it is that, in his opinion, the sentence was too harsh.



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And your brilliant mind can read others'....oops, it can't. You know what GWB said and did, you don't know what GWB thinks.

A pardon in this situation would be very difficult politically, whether GWB believes there was a crime or not.

On the other hand we KNOW that SB stole and destroyed classfified documents AND lied to Federal grand jury and got a $10,000 fine and 3 year suspension of his security clearance (as if anyone would spend the political capital to put him in a national security position again).

To NOT commute Libby's sentence would have been unconscionable

[VayaConDios]

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[YES! Great post. Bush's position is NOT that Libby did not commit a crime (notwithstanding all of the brilliant legal minds here who are arguing otherwise), it is that, in his opinion, the sentence was too harsh.



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And your brilliant mind can read others'....oops, it can't. You know what GWB said and did, you don't know what GWB thinks.

A pardon in this situation would be very difficult politically, whether GWB believes there was a crime or not.

On the other hand we KNOW that SB stole and destroyed classfified documents AND lied to Federal grand jury and got a $10,000 fine and 3 year suspension of his security clearance (as if anyone would spend the political capital to put him in a national security position again).

To NOT commute Libby's sentence would have been unconscionable

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You're basically an "OMG Clinton did it" gimmick account.

[niss]

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[YES! Great post. Bush's position is NOT that Libby did not commit a crime (notwithstanding all of the brilliant legal minds here who are arguing otherwise), it is that, in his opinion, the sentence was too harsh.



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And your brilliant mind can read others'....oops, it can't. You know what GWB said and did, you don't know what GWB thinks.

A pardon in this situation would be very difficult politically, whether GWB believes there was a crime or not.

On the other hand we KNOW that SB stole and destroyed classfified documents AND lied to Federal grand jury and got a $10,000 fine and 3 year suspension of his security clearance (as if anyone would spend the political capital to put him in a national security position again).

To NOT commute Libby's sentence would have been unconscionable

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This man asked me to tell you that your argument is illogical.

[Misfire]

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Participating in a cover-up about blowing the cover of a covert agent who is working on behalf of the USA? In retribution for *her husband's* political views? Disgusting. He didn't get enough time.

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Armitage leaked the name out of retribution?

[cpk]

I think the sentence was commuted instead of pardoned so that Libby could continue to take the Fifth. If he gets a pardon, he's immune from further prosecution, so if Congress calls him on the carpet, he'd have to testify. This way, he can just take the Fifth.

[oldbookguy]

Well, I do not have a problem with Libby's jail time being commuted.

I DO however have a problem with Bush letting our border guards sit in jail for shooting a drug smuggler in the rear end and then putting the border guards in jail.

This outrages me!

obg

[almostbusto]

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Well, I do not have a problem with Libby's jail time being commuted.

I DO however have a problem with Bush letting our border guards sit in jail for shooting a drug smuggler in the rear end and then putting the border guards in jail.

This outrages me!

obg

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Lou Dobbs gimmick account?