No Pardon for Scooter?

[Chicken Little]

Bush won't "intervene".

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070605/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_libby;_ylt=Au7tFZfcgXj0GVq5UxziAqeyFz4D

[Conan71]

Uh, not yet anyhow.

Most of the talking heads were saying this afternoon that Libby will likely keep appeals going as long as he can.  Speculation is, appeals could last up to 18 months with enough stalling, mis-filed paperwork, continuances, attorney changes, etc.

Do the math, I bet he never does a day and by the afternoon of Jan. 20, 2009 he's got a clean record and a great consulting job with some DC think tank.

[Wrinkle]

When do we get to try Wilson?
That sucker should be in jail already.

[Conan71]

The stall has officially started.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-06-14-libby_N.htm?csp=34

[MichaelC]

And ended?  Maybe?

From MSNBC

quote:WASHINGTON - A federal judge said Thursday he will not delay a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the CIA leak case, a ruling that could send the former White House aide to prison within weeks.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton's decision will send Libby's attorneys rushing to an appeals court to block the sentence and could force President Bush to consider calls from Libby's supporters to pardon the former aide.

No date was set for Libby to report to prison but it's expected to be within six to eight weeks. That will be left up to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which will also select a facility.

"Unless the Court of Appeals overturns my ruling, he will have to report," Walton said.

Libby's wife, Harriet Grant, wiped tears away from her eyes but Libby was stoic as Walton ruled.

The pardon question
Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted in March of lying to investigators and obstructing Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's inquiry into the 2003 leak of a CIA operative's identity.

Libby's supporters have called for President Bush to wipe away Libby's convictions. Bush publicly has sidestepped pardon questions, saying he wants to let the legal case play out. A delay would give Bush more time to consider the requests.

"Scooter Libby still has the right to appeal, and therefore the president will continue not to intervene in the judicial process," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "The president feels terribly for Scooter, his wife and their young children, and all that they're going through."

Walton never appeared to waiver from his opinion that a delay was unwarranted. After 12 prominent law professors filed documents supporting Libby's request, the judge waived it off as "not something I would expect from a first-year in law school."

Judicial threats
He also said he received several "angry, harassing, mean-spirited" letters and phone calls following his sentencing but said they wouldn't factor into his decision.

Libby is the highest ranking government official ordered to prison since the Iran Contra affair. His monthlong trial offered a rare glimpse into the White House in the early days of the Iraq war.

Trial testimony showed that Cheney was eager to beat back criticism of prewar intelligence. One of the administration's most outspoken critics in mid-2003 was former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Amid a flury of news coverage of that criticism, Bush administration officials leaked to reporters that fact that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, worked as an undercover analyst for CIA. That disclosure in a syndicated newspaper column touched off a leak investigation that brought senior White House officials, including Bush and Cheney, in for questioning.

[Conan71]

I hope he stalls till he can get a last day pardon, otherwise if Bush steps in before then, I owe recyclemichael lunch.

[Conan71]

Looks like I might owe recyclemichael lunch.  Technically, it's not a "pardon" but a "sentence commutation".  Does that count, RM? []

[RecycleMichael]

How about we go to a buffet restaurant, but I only use the little plates?

[Conan71]

Next forum lunch, as long as it's not between July 27 and Aug. 5, I should be able to make it.  Luby's?  Wait we aren't old enough to get in there. [}:)]

[mr.jaynes]

quote:Originally posted by Chicken Little

Bush won't "intervene".

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070605/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_libby;_ylt=Au7tFZfcgXj0GVq5UxziAqeyFz4D

Bush is going to do whatever Bush wants to do, regardless of what the public wants or public opinion. He'll be hardheaded and stubborn and in blind pride, disguise it as "doing the right thing" or "leadership" or something equally noble-sounding.

[Wilbur]

Okay.  Lets all be honest.  Everyone knew long ago Bush was going to intervene, somehow, with the Scooter Libby case.  As of now, he has only commuted his prison sentence, but has left intact the conviction (which makes him a convicted felon), his fine ($250,000) and his probation (2-years).  Pretty nasty as it stands.  On the flip side, Bush has not ruled out a full pardon.

Now, lets compare that to Clinton, the president who holds the all time record of the most pardons granted by a US President in the history of the universe.  Who, strange enough, also committed perjury.  

CBS News made me throw up yesterday reporting on the Libby case.  They go back to Nixon, report how many pardons he granted, then went to Ford and talk about how many pardons he granted, then went to Carter and talked about how many pardons he granted, then went to Reagan and talked about how many pardons he granted, then went to Bush-one and talked about how many pardons he granted.  Then the reporter just stopped!  Not one mention of pardons granted by Clinton.  Why?  It's called liberal slant reporting (and CBS is the worst).  Go ahead and talk about pardons granted by past presidents, but leave out pardons granted by the president who granted the most pardons.

Being a law enforcement kind of guy, I'm not a big fan of pardons.  But, pardons are part of law as well.  The president has them and governors have them (mayors might even have them for city crimes, but I've never looked into that).

Any president can pardon any crime.  If we don't like it, then we change the law, not bash the president for using the pardon.  At least Bush had the balls to grant the pardon mid term, unlike some presidents who wait until their last day in office so they don't have to answer up to the press afterwards.

[cannon_fodder]

Wilbur, its not entirely true.  Not any president can pardon any crime.  A president can only pardon a FEDERAL crime, a governor can only pardon a state crime, and a mayor - if granted the power, could only pardon city ordinances.

Also, Clinton did not pardon the most people of all time.  Not even close.  That award goes to Roosevelt with some 3600.  Clinton had less than 400.
http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/actions_administration.htm

Nonetheless, to fail to mention his controversial pardons with a tie in that he was convicted of the same thing Scooter has been... seem strange to me.

Clinton - Martha - Scotter.  The conviction for the cover up trifecta is complete.

[RecycleMichael]

If I am elected President, I will pardon any person convicted from lying about sex.

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

Wilbur, its not entirely true.  Not any president can pardon any crime.  A president can only pardon a FEDERAL crime, a governor can only pardon a state crime, and a mayor - if granted the power, could only pardon city ordinances.

Also, Clinton did not pardon the most people of all time.  Not even close.  That award goes to Roosevelt with some 3600.  Clinton had less than 400.
http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/actions_administration.htm

Nonetheless, to fail to mention his controversial pardons with a tie in that he was convicted of the same thing Scooter has been... seem strange to me.

Clinton - Martha - Scotter.  The conviction for the cover up trifecta is complete.

I stand corrected, and thanks for the link.

USAToday reported today current-Bush has the fewest pardons of any modern-day president.  We'll see what happens in the time he has left.  He could still go out with a bang.

[Conan71]

For entertainment, I went to the DOJ website and pulled up the last-minute Clinton pardons:

BORDERS, William Arthur, Jr. Washington, D.C. Conspiracy to corruptly solicit and accept money in return for influencing the official acts of a federal district court judge (Alcee L. Hastings), and to defraud the United States in connection with the performance of lawful government functions; corruptly influencing, obstructing, impeding and endeavoring to influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice, and aiding and abetting therein; traveling interstate with intent to commit bribery

This guy made Libby look like a piker.


YASAK, Joseph A.  Chicago, Illinois Knowingly making under oath a false declaration regarding a material fact before a grand jury

Hmmm, where have we heard this before?

Many others were bank fraud, tax evasion or fraud, there were a ton who were involved in cocaine conspiracies in Arkansas, Okla, SD, Mo. Tn.  Made me wonder if they were in bed w/ Roger Clinton.

No particular comment other than Ms. Clinton might want to keep her yapper shut, considering her brothers helped broker several pardons and one had to return $200K for pardon peddling after he was found-out.

From the Chicago Trib

"The former president's most notorious pardon was of fugitive financier Marc Rich, whose former wife, Denise, was a Democratic Party fundraiser and patron of the Clinton presidential library.

Marc Rich also was once a client of Libby's when Libby was in private law practice before entering the Bush administration. Libby has said that he wasn't involved in the effort to obtain a pardon for Rich and indicated in congressional testimony in 2001 that he would not necessarily have supported such a move."

Now there's some real irony.