Friday, April 13, 2018

Pardoning Scooter Libby opens door to other pardons

Reports have emerged that President Donald Trump will pardon former Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff Scooter Libby, who received a conviction of lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice in 2007.
Libby received his conviction over the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity. He had a 30 month sentence, but President George W. Bush commuted it.
Libby was convicted of one count of obstruction, two counts of perjury and one count of lying to the FBI about how he learned Plame’s identity and whom he told. Prosecutors said he learned about Plame from Cheney and others, discussed her name with reporters and, fearing prosecution, made up a story to make those discussions seem innocuous.
So the precedent already was set that a President might "commune" a sentence for someone who ultimately was charged for nothing other than process crimes. If we recall, the Valarie Plame special investigation not only found no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing, that distinction was determined fairly early in the process. But Patrick Fitzgerald was effectively provided with plenary authority to sort of just "investigate around".

But if Trump were to actually pardon Scooter Libby (which many people at the time called for from Bush)... it sort of sets the precedent that anyone from this particular investigation who is charged with nothing more than a process crime, could also be pardoned. I would think this entire move might be a pretense for the eventual pardon of Flynn and possibly Cohen, depending on what is found.

I would suspect that Trump may first commune any sentences, and hold back any pardons until the investigation is completed. Certainly if a Special Counsel report fails to uncover any Trump/Russia collusion, then the idea of Pardons over process crimes becomes much more palatable and even justified. 

19 comments:

Loretta said...

Done!

Good.

Anonymous said...

The left can say nothing. All President's do it.

Loretta said...

Here is President Trump’s statement about the Scooter Libby pardon:

"THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2018

Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding the Pardon of I. “Scooter” Lewis Libby

Today, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Grant of Clemency (Full Pardon) to I. “Scooter” Lewis Libby, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Richard Cheney, for convictions stemming from a 2007 trial. President George W. Bush commuted Mr. Libby’s sentence shortly after his conviction. Mr. Libby, nevertheless, paid a $250,000 fine, performed 400 hours of community service, and served two years of probation.

In 2015, one of the key witnesses against Mr. Libby recanted her testimony, stating publicly that she believes the prosecutor withheld relevant information from her during interviews that would have altered significantly what she said. The next year, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated Mr. Libby to the bar, reauthorizing him to practice law. The Court agreed with the District of Columbia Disciplinary Counsel, who stated that Mr. Libby had presented “credible evidence” in support of his innocence, including evidence that a key prosecution witness had “changed her recollection of the events in question.”

Before his conviction, Mr. Libby had rendered more than a decade of honorable service to the Nation as a public servant at the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the White House. His record since his conviction is similarly unblemished, and he continues to be held in high regard by his colleagues and peers.

In light of these facts, the President believes Mr. Libby is fully worthy of this pardon. “I don’t know Mr. Libby,” said President Trump, “but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.”"

Good job.

Commonsense said...

IG report in the FBI is going to the hill today.

Anonymous said...

Cool

Myballs said...

IG says mccabe mccabe leaked to boost himself, lied about it to comey and investigators, then had his wife write an op ed to create noise so he could challenge his firing.

The obama admin politicized and weaponized the fbi...and doj.

And yes i think Obama knew all about it.

Anonymous said...

The obama admin politicized and weaponized the fbi...and doj."

100 % clear now.

CNN said DOJ said...

56 minutes ago
CNN
DOJ: Michael Cohen 'under criminal investigation'

Commonsense said...

So much for Friday being a quiet news day.

DOJ IG releases explosive report that led to firing of ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe

Andrew McCabe, onetime acting FBI director, leaked a self-serving story to the press and later lied about it to his boss and federal investigators, prompting a stunning fall from grace that ended in his firing last month, says a bombshell report released Friday by the Justice Department's internal watchdog.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz, appointed by President Barack Obama, had been reviewing FBI and DOJ actions leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

The report, handed over to Congress on Friday and obtained by Fox News, looked at a leak to The Wall Street Journal about an FBI probe of the Clinton Foundation.

The report says that McCabe authorized the leak and then misled investigators about it, leaking in a way that did not fall under a "public interest" exception.


As the never Trumpers like to say, "more to come".

Anonymous said...

Jane the coward

commie said...

The swamp keeps filling with big wig white horny old men with money, buying silence and apologizing to their wives... So trumpian and you sycophants keep slurping up the actions of pigs.....how sad your morality just goes with the ebb and flow of these idiots...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top fundraiser for President Donald Trump has resigned from the Republican National Committee following a report that he paid $1.6 million to a Playboy playmate he had an affair with.

denny said...

Talk about political BS.... the pardon was a direct affront to comey and payback for merry fitzmas, who was appointed by comey....trump is such a big baby and is always trying to show what a big man he is in spite of his dick needs whores to be satisfied....wonder how melodorous is holding up with all this fucking going on.....Amazing, everyone is a liar but donnie....and all of you have bought into that tenet....

Anonymous said...

white horny old men with money, buying silence and apologizing to their wives"

JFK
Bill the rapist Clinton
Carlos Danger

wphamilton said...

I'm still struggling with the idea that Trump pardoning one guy sets a precedent that makes it easier, more acceptable etc, to pardon another guy. I did this, that makes it OK for me to do it ...

I doubt that he's sending a "signal" to miscreants who might otherwise implicate him either. If Trump really wanted to "signal" those guys, he'd probably just have one of his lawyers pick up a phone and call their lawyers.

Anonymous said...

the pardon was a direct affront to comey", Klienminded

It was the exercise of President Trump's Constitutional sole Power.

Anonymous said...

We know.

"
wphamiltonApril 13, 2018 at 4:14 PM
I'm still struggling"

wphamilton said...

Not even Trump would feel the need to pardon someone to prove that he could.

*I* think, Trump pardoned Libby because he thought Libby got a raw deal ... if so, he's right for once.

wphamilton said...

Because it's a dumb idea ... dumb people probably don't struggle with accepting dumb ideas ... just sayin'.

Anonymous said...

It is a common error made by the Leftist here.

Smart vote Jill Stien