🚀 go-pugleaf

Now that the world, and our enemies, can see what kind of a spineless
coward BUSH is for keeping his buddy out of jail, how can we ever win
a war against anything other than ethics and morality?



July 2, 2007
Bush Commutes Libby Prison Sentence

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:22 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush spared former White House aide I. 
Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak 
investigation Monday, delivering a political thunderbolt in the highly 
charged criminal case. Bush said the sentence was just too harsh.

Bush's move came just five hours after a federal appeals panel ruled 
that Libby could not delay his prison term. That meant Libby was likely 
to have to report soon, and it put new pressure on the president, who 
had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon Vice President 
Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.

''I respect the jury's verdict,'' Bush said in a statement. ''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.''

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald disputed the president'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,'' the prosecutor said.

Bush's decision enraged Democrats and cheered conservatives -- though 
some of the latter wished Bush had granted a full pardon.

''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.''

Unlike a pardon, which would have wiped away Libby's criminal record, 
Bush's commutation voided only the prison term.

The president left intact a $250,000 fine and two years' probation for 
his conviction of lying and obstructing justice in a probe into the 
leak of a CIA operative's identity. The former operative, Valerie 
Plame, contends the White House was trying to discredit her husband, a 
critic of Bush's Iraq policy.

Bush said his action still ''leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. 
Libby.''

Libby was convicted in March, the highest-ranking White House official 
ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair roiled the Reagan 
administration in the 1980s. Arms were secretly sold to Iran to gain 
freedom for American hostages, with the money funneled to 
anti-communist guerrillas in Nicaragua in spite of a congressional ban. 
Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, issued pardons for 
six former officials shortly before leaving office in 1992.

Testimony in the Libby case revealed the extraordinary steps that Bush 
and Cheney were willing to take to discredit a critic of the Iraq war.

Libby's supporters celebrated the president's decision.

''President Bush did the right thing today in commuting the prison term 
for Scooter Libby,'' said House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri.

''That's fantastic. It's a great relief,'' said former Ambassador 
Richard Carlson, who helped raise millions for Libby's defense fund. 
''Scooter Libby did not deserve to go to prison and I'm glad the 
president had the courage to do this.''

Already at record lows in the polls, Bush risked a political backlash 
with his decision. President Ford tumbled in the polls after his 1974 
pardon of Richard M. Nixon, and the decision was a factor in Ford's 
loss in his bid for re-election.

White House officials said Bush knew he could take political heat and 
simply did what he thought was right. They would not say what advice 
Cheney might have given the president.

On the other hand, Bush's action could help Republican presidential 
candidates by letting them off the hook on the question of whether they 
would pardon Libby.

A message seeking comment from Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's 
office was not immediately returned.

Bush said Cheney's former aide was not getting off free.

''The reputation he gained through his years of public service and 
professional work in the legal community is forever damaged,'' Bush 
said. ''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.''

A spokeswoman for Cheney said simply, ''The vice president supports the 
president's decision.''

The White House said Bush came to his decision in the past week or two 
and made it final Monday because of the ruling of the appeals panel, 
which meant Libby would be going to prison soon.

The president's announcement came just as prison seemed likely for 
Libby. He recently lost an appeals court fight that was his best chance 
to put the sentence on hold, and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons had already 
designated him inmate No. 28301-016.

Bush's statement made no mention of the term ''pardon,'' and he made 
clear that he was not willing to wipe away all penalties for Libby.

The president noted Libby supporters' argument that the punishment did 
not fit the crime for a ''first-time offender with years of exceptional 
public service.''

Yet, he added: ''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.''

Bush then stripped away the prison time.

The leak case has hung over the White House for years. After CIA 
operative Valerie Plame's name appeared in a 2003 syndicated newspaper 
column, Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald questioned top administration 
officials, including Bush and Cheney, about their possible roles.

Nobody was ever charged with the leak, including Deputy Secretary of 
State Richard Armitage or White House political adviser Karl Rove, who 
provided the information for the original article. Prosecutors said 
Libby obstructed the investigation by lying about how he learned about 
Plame and whom he told.

Plame believes Libby and other White House officials conspired to leak 
her identity to reporters in 2003 as retribution against her husband, 
Joseph Wilson, who criticized what he said was the administration's 
misleading use of prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Attorney William Jeffress said he had spoken to Libby briefly by phone 
and ''I'm happy at least that Scooter will be spared any prison time. 
... The prison sentence was imminent, but obviously the conviction 
itself is a heavy blow to Scooter.''

A White House official notified the trial judge, U.S. District Judge 
Reggie B. Walton, of the decision. Walton, a Bush appointee who served 
in the White House under the president's father, had cited the 
''overwhelming'' evidence against Libby when he handed down his 
sentence. A courthouse spokesman said Walton would not comment.

------

Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

-- 
"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in 
England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after 
all, IT IS THE LEADERS of the country who determine the policy and it 
is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a 
democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist 
dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to 
the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is TELL 
THEM THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of 
patriotism and exposing the country to danger. IT WORKS THE SAME IN ANY 
COUNTRY."
�
--Goering at the Nuremberg Trials