Bush commutes Libby prison sentence

[ericsp23]

Bush commutes Libby prison sentence - Yahoo! News

President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case Monday, stepping into a criminal case with heavy political overtones on grounds that the sentence was just too harsh. Bush's move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That meant Libby was likely to have to report to prison soon and put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. "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."

Is anyone really surprised?

[yourwrong]

No, the media was all over the possibilty of Bush pardoning Libby.

[Scribbler1]

It was expected because most people expect Bush to always do the wrong thing.
The rule of law is about as foreign to that man as unscripted speaking.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Scribbler1 It was expected because most people expect Bush to always do the wrong thing. The rule of law is about as foreign to that man as unscripted speaking.

Well, in truth he really didn't commit the crime he was accused of, did he?


As much as I would like to see bad things happen to people like Mr. Libby, I think he was getting railroaded by the justice system on a bad rap.

[Clarence]

I think Libby and his people were going to turn on the white house if the sentence wasn't commuted. I'm sure the gang would've loved for Libby to be scapegoated.

[Scribbler1]

How so? He was convicted of lying to investigators in the outing of a CIA operative investigation.

As far as I'm concerned, if he had anything to do with blowing Wilson's identity he should be shot.

[Jimmy the Pro]

Bush let's out Libby and I am not surprised a single bit.

First Paris gets let out, then Libby and why do I still support the criminal punshment system in the United State?

[Zeebadee]

Quote by: Milton Bradley Well, in truth he really didn't commit the crime he was accused of, did he?

Well, in truth, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced, wasn't he? libby was convicted of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury. Which of those charges do you consider him innocent of?

[Chaossaber314]

Quote by: Scribbler1 It was expected because most people expect Bush to always do the wrong thing. The rule of law is about as foreign to that man as unscripted speaking.

Well as far as the rule of law issue is concerned, the president has the legal authority to commute a sentence. Whether or not he should use that power in this or other cases is another debate all together.

[gallo]

Quote by: Milton Bradley Well, in truth he really didn't commit the crime he was accused of, did he?

Yes. He did.

Quote by: Scribbler1 As far as I'm concerned, if he had anything to do with blowing Wilson's identity he should be shot.

Then I guess he should be shot. Libby was one of three people in the Bush administration who separately leaked the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA operative. The others were Rove and Armitage. They also lied but fessed up before they were brought before the grand jury. What is especially heinous about the leak is the fact that Wilson was a NOC. In other words, she operated without government cover and recruited and handled foreign spies.

[xyzer]

Gallo, I don't know where you get your information but I do know it's flawed?

Then I guess he should be shot. Libby was one of three people in the Bush administration who separately leaked the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA operative. The others were Rove and Armitage. They also lied but fessed up before they were brought before the grand jury. What is especially heinous about the leak is the fact that Wilson was a NOC. In other words, she operated without government cover and recruited and handled foreign spies.

Plame was a CIA employee at the time in question. She worked openly and was not in a covert status. She was never revealed to be covert by anyone of those involved was she? She was revealed as the one who suggested (since confirmed) her husband Wilson for a trip to find out about the Yellow Cake" British intelligence report.. His assignment was highly irregular because he was not affiliated with the CIA and thus not bound by any rules of secrecy.
How can anyone(Libby included) leak something that is not a secret? Sounds more like gossip to me. IMNSHO the 'railroading' of Libby was politically motivated. I've never seen the record of the specific statments he made in response to the questions but I can only conclude that his word was compared to that of other witnesses and obviouly differed from theirs. Word about whether someone did or did not work for the CIA and what he said about Plame. Was he right or were those others who had different stories right? Above all was it worth the millions of dollars involved to invesitgate gossip?

[CoffeeSaint]

The man was convicted by a court of law. Since the Executive Branch was on his side and the Judicial Branch seems to be an extension of the Executive of late, I don't see how Libby could have been railroaded by the courts. Does his conviction spare anyone else from having to take blame? Of course not; their sheer audacity and indifference to right and wrong is what keeps them from having to take the blame. I'm glad to know that there isn't even an appearance of justice in this administration any more. Now I can stop waffling when I think of Bush as pond scum.

And xyzer, was the amount spent on this case more or less than what was spent on investigating Clinton? Just curious.

[Scribbler1]

Quote by: Chaossaber314 Well as far as the rule of law issue is concerned, the president has the legal authority to commute a sentence. Whether or not he should use that power in this or other cases is another debate all together.

Yes, he had the legal right to do it, and this doesn't really come as no surprise.
He had the legal right to start the war with Iraq, too. I think that will be a large part of Bush's "legacy", in that he did so many wrong things, but they were barely "legal enough" to keep him out of jail.

[brien]

Is anyone really surprised?

No. I pointed this out in ther last Libbey thread but mentioned a pardon. It never occured to me that he would use a commutation. Slick.

[brien]

Well, in truth he really didn't commit the crime he was accused of, did he?

Libbey was convicted of perjury, the same crime Clinton committed when he lied under oath as well.

[Zeebadee]

Quote by: brien No. I pointed this out in ther last Libbey thread but mentioned a pardon. It never occured to me that he would use a commutation. Slick.

I think a pardon is still a good possibility. bush is a lame duck president, his approval rating is lower than a snakes belly, and he obviously doesn't give a hoot about the damage he does. He's got very little to lose by a complete pardon, and he'll do it, just like clinton handed them out at the end of his term. On the other hand, he may have a lot to lose if he doesn't pardon libby. libby probably knows more than he's saying, at least so far. The threat of libby talking is probably a pretty good reason for a pardon.

The damage is furthering the perception that justice in America is dependent on who you are.

[sdbest]

Quote by: Milton Bradley Well, in truth he really didn't commit the crime he was accused of, did he?

Yes, he really did commit the crime--obstruction of justice.

Regards
S.

[another day]

Three cheers for dictatorship.

[gallo]

Quote by: xyzer Gallo, I don't know where you get your information but I do know it's flawed?

Why ask me what you think? However, I will answer your question. No. You do not know that my information is flawed.

Quote by: xyzer Plame was a CIA employee at the time in question.

Yes. That's true. Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert agent for the CIA.

Quote by: xyzer She worked openly and was not in a covert status.

Wrong. She was working at Langley at the time for the Counterproliferation Division of the Directorate of Operations (the spying part of the CIA). No one who works for the CPD or the DO works "openly" for the CIA. She began working for the CIA in 1985 as a overseas case officer, first posing as a State Department employee and then as a NOC (nonofficial cover). Her cover was that she worked for an energy firm. She was a spy who recruited and ran foreign spies. At the time in question, she was working for the CPD at Langley, still maintaining her NOC status (her paycheck was issued by a phony energy company that was a front for the CIA), running covert ops.

Quote by: xyzer She was never revealed to be covert by anyone of those involved was she?

She was outed as a CIA agent. Since she was still employed in a covert status, so I guess the answer is yes, she was revealed to be covert, since she can no longer serve in that capacity.

Quote by: xyzer She was revealed as the one who suggested (since confirmed) her husband Wilson for a trip to find out about the Yellow Cake" British intelligence report.

Blatant lie. Anybody in the Bush administration tells you a lie and you take it for gospel. Another CIA official (superior to Wilson) who was involved in the investigation, being aware of Joseph Wilson's experience and knowledge of the African uranium operations, asked Valerie Wilson if she would ask her husband if he would go to Africa to discuss the question with some of his contacts. Joseph Wilson agreed. When he came to a meeting at the CIA, his wife, who was known to most present, introduced him since few knew who Joseph Wilson was. Valerie Wilson then left the meeting.

Your false information, willfully propagated by those involved in the leak came from one Bush flunky who attended the meeting and was late. He was told that Valerie Wilson had introduced her husband and assumed that she had suggested him for the mission. If the Bush flunky had been on time, he would have known the truth. However, since the story cast a better light on the leakers (Libby, Rove, and Armitage), that's the one pushed by the administration. You fell for it.

Quote by: xyzer His assignment was highly irregular because he was not affiliated with the CIA and thus not bound by any rules of secrecy.

Except rules about the status of his wife's employment. However, how is the fact that a former ambassador was sent back to Africa relevant to the fact that three of Bush's administration leaked secret information? The problem was that Joseph Wilson had been critical of Bush's war policy and certain members of the administration were trying to get even with him. They broke the law.

Quote by: xyzer How can anyone(Libby included) leak something that is not a secret?

They were not accused of leaking information about Joseph Wilson's trip. They were accused of revealing an undercover CIA operative and thus endangering the lives of foreign spies who had had open contact with her.

Quote by: xyzer Sounds more like gossip to me.

That's what Bush and the rest of the liars in his administration wanted you to believe. At one time he said that no one who leaked secret information would be employed in his administration. When he found out that it had been Libby, Rove, and Armitage, he did nothing. When asked, he claimed that he had meant that no one who had been convicted of a crime would be employed in his administration.

Quote by: xyzer IMNSHO the 'railroading' of Libby was politically motivated.

By whom? The Bush administration and it's zeal to prosecute leakers who leaked information it didn't like? Bush's administration has been plagued by leaks for a long time and Bush made it a policy to go after leakers.

Quote by: xyzer I've never seen the record of the specific statments he made in response to the questions but I can only conclude that his word was compared to that of other witnesses and obviouly differed from theirs.

Not exactly. Reporters take notes and those notes revealed meetings with Libby that he denied, and comments that he denied making. The evidence that he had lied under oath was overwhelming - he was charged by a grand jury and later found guilty by another jury. But of course, Bush whiners think he was railroaded.

Quote by: xyzer Word about whether someone did or did not work for the CIA and what he said about Plame.

What he said to more than one reporter was that Joseph Wilson's wife (Valerie Plame Wilson), who had proposed him for the mission, worked as an undercover agent for the CIA.

Quote by: xyzer Was he right or were those others who had different stories right?

He lied under oath and tried to obstruct the investigation. He got caught. There is no doubt that he did it and no doubt that he lied about it. And now, Bush lets him off. It seems he wants to punish leakers unless they are "his" leakers.

Quote by: xyzer Above all was it worth the millions of dollars involved to invesitgate gossip?

It wasn't gossip. It was the betrayal of public trust by three officials of the Bush administration. And the President and his faithful dupes continue to cry foul after being caught in lie after lie. There was no yellow cake, there were no WMDs, and Libby, Rove, and Armitage leaked secret information to the press in violation of the law and then lied about it. Rove and Armitage had the brains to not do so while under oath.