WASHINGTON – The 21/2-year sentence imposed on former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby on Tuesday puts new pressure on President Bush, who may soon confront the choice of triggering a political storm by pardoning a convicted perjurer or letting one of the early architects of his administration head off to prison.
Libby, who served as assistant to the president and chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney until his indictment in late 2005, was ordered to serve 30 months behind bars and pay a $250,000 fine for committing perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case.
If Libby were allowed to remain free pending appeals, as occurs in many white-collar criminal cases, the White House might defer the question of a pardon until after the November 2008 elections, when it would be less politically risky.
But U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said in court Tuesday that he doubts Libby has a viable appeal. “I just don’t see it,” he said. And therefore, Walton suggested, he would force Libby to report to prison unless his lawyers can change his mind at a hearing June 14.
Libby was convicted in March for lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters about CIA official Valerie Plame. Before she was exposed in the media as a CIA operative, her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the administration of twisting intelligence to justify the Iraq war. Cheney revealed Plame’s identity to Libby in June 2003.
Libby’s attorneys noted that no one has ever charged anyone with leaking Plame’s identity, including former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage or White House political adviser Karl Rove, the original sources of the leak.
But a pardon almost certainly would touch off a wave of political trouble. Bush critics have said a pardon would show a reckless disregard for rule of law in a case that concerned whether the administration misled the public to justify war with Iraq.
Many leading Republicans in Washington have urged Bush not to consider using his clemency power for Libby.
Bush, traveling in Europe, said through a spokeswoman that he “felt terrible for the family.” The spokeswoman pointed to Walton’s hearing next week in saying that Bush would wait to see what happens before acting.
But the issue could come to a head within weeks. If Walton at next week’s hearing follows the course he indicated Tuesday, then Libby would be required to report for prison within 45 to 60 days.
He could ask the federal appeals court in Washington to stay his sentence pending his appeal, which if successful could further postpone the decision.
If that fails, it would take accelerating, or circumventing, the normal pardon process to keep Libby out of prison. Convicted people seeking pardons normally apply through the Justice Department and go through an extensive review before recommendations are sent to the White House.
Bush has granted 113 pardons, and has not pardoned anyone who had not already served his or her sentence, though he commuted the sentences of three people.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
