Bush Commutes Libby Prison Sentence

File this under “you gotta be fucking kidding me”.

President Bush commuted the sentence of former aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case. Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Bush’s move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That decision put the 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.

Source: hosted.ap.org

I feel like lighting things on fire….

So, George, did you lie to me and the rest of the American People?

“There are too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There’s leaks at the executive branch; there’s leaks in the legislative branch. There’s just too many leaks. And if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of.” George W. Bush, September 2003

Source: whitehouse.gov

That one and more here: marc.perkel.com

Libby didn’t get busted for the leak. He got busted for lying about the leak. You said “if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of.”

Libby was tried and he was convicted. And you pardoned him.

You fucking liar.

*update* Perhaps I’m being to harsh on our Fearless Leader. Below is Bush’s statement on pardoning Libby:

The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby’s request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.

I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby’s appeals have been exhausted. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.

From the very beginning of the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame’s name, I made it clear to the White House staff and anyone serving in my administration that I expected full cooperation with the Justice Department. Dozens of White House staff and administration officials dutifully cooperated.

After the investigation was under way, the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged.

This case has generated significant commentary and debate. Critics of the investigation have argued that a special counsel should not have been appointed, nor should the investigation have been pursued after the Justice Department learned who leaked Ms. Plame’s name to columnist Robert Novak. Furthermore, the critics point out that neither Mr. Libby nor anyone else has been charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, which were the original subjects of the investigation. Finally, critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury.

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. They say that had Mr. Libby only told the truth, he would have never been indicted in the first place.

Both critics and defenders of this investigation have made important points. I have made my own evaluation. In preparing for the decision I am announcing today, I have carefully weighed these arguments and the circumstances surrounding this case.

Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.

I respect the jury’s verdict. 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.

My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. 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.

The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted. It is my judgment that a commutation of the prison term in Mr. Libby’s case is an appropriate exercise of this power.

Nah, I wasn’t at all too harsh. Bush doesn’t care that a member of his administration committed a crime. It doesn’t matter because it’s one of “his people”. Anyone else can go to hell. *end update*

About big jonny

The man, the legend. The guy who started it all back in the Year of Our Lord Beer, 2000, with a couple of pages worth of idiotic ranting hardcoded on some random porn site that would host anything you uploaded, a book called HTML for Dummies (which was completely appropriate), a bad attitude (which hasn’t much changed), and a Dell desktop running Win95 with 64 mgs of ram and a six gig hard drive. Those were the days. Then he went to law school. Go figure. Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

9 Replies to “Bush Commutes Libby Prison Sentence”

  1. When he got convicted I figured that someone was going to take it in the ass, but I had no idea that it would be the American people. Is there any institution of our society that these bastards have not subverted?

  2. How much longer are you going to put up with this shit?

    Impeach

    Impeach

    Impeach

    (then ride)

  3. They have no shame. And it seems like there is nothing we can do to stop them. The Dems are toothless. I feel like someone keeps hitting me in the head over and over again with a fucking brick and I just sit here and keep taking it.

    viva la revolucion

  4. This is just unbelievable… I keep waiting for someone, anyone, to be a goddamn fucking leader in this country. At this point I don’t even have to agree with them 60%, just someone who would stand up to Tricky Dick-head and his sidekick GW. The Dems won’t do it… Did you see the Tavis Smiley debate on Thursday? C’mon, what a bunch of spineless pinheads.

    Where’s my time machine? Cause, at this point I want pissed off John McCain, circa 2000, back.

  5. Armitage ‘leaked’ not Libby. And if you mean by ‘leaked’, confirmed to a report what was already known by pretty much by anyone who cared, then I guess it was a leak.

  6. The leak isn’t the point. It makes no difference in regards to Scooter Libby’s conviction who the actual source of the leak was. The fact that Libby was caught lying to a Grand Jury about the leak is the crux of the issue.

    It’s called Perjury and Obstruction of Justice.

    That’s what Clinton was impeached for. That’s what Libby was tried for.

    Clinton lied under oath about consensual sex with an intern. He was impeached and acquitted.

    Libby lied about the leak of a CIA operative’s identity. He was tried and convicted.

    I think you know all this already. If you don’t, you should.

  7. America, Revolt…Facism, Capitalism, Buchchaneyism..Democracy only works if people Arent intrested in Only themselfs..So..Enjoy youre cool new Stuff……See you in Hell….

  8. Hmm. Did Clinton get prison time when he lied to a grand jury? No. What was Clinton’s penalty for lying to a grand jury? Compare that to Libby’s. Libby wasn’t pardoned, his sentence was commuted. Prison time was excessive. Or should have Clinton gone to prison?

  9. But now we’re talking about two different things: What should have happened to Clinton and what did happen to Libby.

    Clinton was impeached, which is, for our purposes, the same as being put on trail. And he was acquitted. Whether you feel the result of that impeachment was fair and just is besides the point. (but we can certainly discuss that at length some other time). He was impeached, and he was acquitted.

    Libby, on the other hand, was tried and convicted. The Judge followed the sentencing guidelines as established in law. He was going to appeal. But rather than spend a day in jail while he appealed, Bush eliminated jail time from his sentence.

    Going to jail when you are sentenced, mind you, actually happens to people. They are convicted and sent directly to jail. Happens all the time. See Don Siegelman for a recent example. He was “handcuffed and led off to prison immediately in front of television cameras.” Source: http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/06/hbc-90000409

    If Libby’s sentence “too harsh” what of the other hundreds of thousands of people currently incarcerated in this country? Is George Bush going to micro-manage each and every one of their sentences?

    (Note: As of June 30, 2006 there were 2,245,189 prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails in this country. Source: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm)

    Bush certainly didn’t allow much wiggle room for those convicted of capital crimes while he was the Governor of Texas.

    “During Bush’s six years as governor 150 men and two women were executed in Texas,” Berlow reports in the Atlantic, “a record unmatched by any other governor in modern American history.”
    Source: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030620.html

    I can only conclude that he rules with an iron fist when dealing with the poor and minorities, but bring of his “his” guys before the dock, and it’s get out of jail free time.