Nothing to see here. Just one scoundrel helping out another.
Bush Commutes Libby Prison Sentence
President Bush commuted the sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby on Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term that Bush said was excessive. 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.”
Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, and Bush said his action still “leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby.”
What’s with all the animosity? Can’t we all just love each other like good non-christians?
For all of the “impeach” folks, when was the last time a politician was impeached for (alleged) improper use of pardons?
#62 IBC, there is always the first time.
IMPEACH BOTH BASTARDS, YESTERDAY!!
And the entertainment continues….
#62, Frank,
The contempt shown by Bush and Cheney to the American people, the United States of America, The Constitution of the United States of America, and freedom loving people everywhere suggest these carbon based life forms do not deserve the positions they hold.
Did Texas run out of rocks for you to crawl under? I assume Bush and friends are using them all.
All Presidents all do it. It’s not your government anymore, get used to it.
http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/clintonpardon_grants.htm
That’s not an answer to my question, Mr. Effusion. I asked what is the precedent for impeaching an official for specifically alleged misuse of the pardon power. If you can show me an example were an elected or appointed official has been prosecuted/impeached for misuse of the authority to pardon, I’m all ears. You can’t just impeach someone just because you don’t like them, you actually have to bring specific charges.
Just crying “impeach him, impeach him!” after every single news story is little more than emotional masturbation that does nothing to improve the situation.
I think what Bush did was right. The whole thing was a waste of taxpayer money. The whole fiasco was a political football game. In the end the goal keeper just caught the ball and punted it back in play that is all. I think he should have commuted the fine as well and I will send Scooter 10 dollars of my own money to help him out. I cannot be more grateful to this president for making a mockery of the conceit of the idiots who clamored for the prosecution of his “crime”. Really get a life, every day we have really bad things the courts need to decide. Our prisons are full of real criminals and we do not need to put people in jail for political reasons. If you want that, go to Iran they will love you there.
“He excused his prison sentence that many people with knowledge of the situation believed was excessive”
So why didn’t Bush let him serve that part of the sentence that was not excessive, and then pardon him?
Oh well, the Wilson civil suit will keep us all entertained next year.
By not pardoning him he can still appeal the case and therefore not be forced to testify before congress. Then he can just be given a pardon at the end of Bush’s term. If he had been given and accepted a pardon he could no longer plead the 5th and be held in contempt of congress for refusing to testify. This is obstruction of justice and therefore not legal.
You’re grasping at straws, Chris. As I said to Mr. Fusion earlier, show me the law that restricts the President’s power to pardon/commute, etc. under such circumstances.
What? Only 71 posts thus far? No one has much of an opinion on this or what?
68. “I think he should have commuted the fine as well and I will send Scooter 10 dollars of my own money to help him out.”
Hey, I hear Jim And Tammy Fay Baker are back, they got there hands out too. Spread the love.
>>You’re grasping at straws, Chris.
No, you are grasping at straws, Frank IBC. If Scooter Pie accepted the pardon, that is a implicit admission of guilt.
And come on, let’s cut through the bullshit here. We all know Scooter Pie was just a sacrificial lamb for Presidents Rove and Cheney. And they were afraid that with him looking at 2.5 years in the Big House, he might decided that he would tell the TRUTH about what he knows, and the role that the two evil Presidents played in the whole Plamegate debacle, and maybe other crimes as well. So they got their puppet, Dumbya, to throw Scooter a bone (commutation of jail time), with the possibility of full pardon in Jan ’09 if his appeal fails and he is found guilty (again).
I’m not denying the implication of guilt. And that’s not my point, anyway. My point is that Chris’s scenario of of a pardon being “illegal” because it is somehow “obstruction of justice” is ludicrous. On that basis, you could argue that ALL pardons are in some way “obstruction of justice”.
>>My point is that Chris’s scenario of of a pardon being “illegal”
Oh, well I agree with you on that. I thought you were responding to my comment. Presidents can pardon whomever they please. It’s an ethical boundary they have to cross, not a legal one.
This surprises everyone why? Most if not all presidents issue commutes and pardons. Need one? Donate, meet the right people, hire a connected lawyer. To vilify Bush over this is rather sophomoric.
If you want him impeached get off your ass and do something constructive about it. Impeach him for actual crimes which he may or may not have committed. Other than that, well Lennon said it best “Opinions are like assholes, everybodys got one.” (or something to that effect)
Frank, a pardon is certainly an impeachable offense. It’s never happened before, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I wish people would pay attention, this is not a pardon, it is a commutation.
I think it would have been better if in the ‘signing statement,’ the President had taken responsibility. He should have just said, Scooter got convicted for working for me, so I’m going to pardon him.
For the third time, give me an example of an official who has been impeached for this.
As well as the actual relevant statute that will have been violated.
TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 73 > § 1510
I believe this act could be construed as “bribery.”
“Democrats had the opportunity to beat Bush in 2004.
Instead, they chose to nominate John Kerry. ”
I riled about this at the time; Kerry was chosen before I had a chance to vote in the primary. Whatever process allowed Kerry to become our candidate is greatly flawed. I hope California moving their primary will send a clear message to these a-holes that something needs changing.
About 400 pardons from Clinton and you bozo’s complain about this?? Clinton even SOLD pardons!
Bush is a wartime President and we don’t have any right to criticize him. When my country is at war, I stand behind my President in all cases. This is what a true patriot does!
“About 400 pardons from Clinton and you bozo’s complain about this?? Clinton even SOLD pardons! ”
I think the difference here Bob is that the guy being pardoned didn’t work in the next room and wasn’t convicted for covering up for him.
85–Bush wont be impeached for anything as there are not enough votes to do so. Raw politics control.
What this pardon shows is BushCo’s contempt for moderation and an intelligent approach to governing. If an issue where found to impeach Bush AND Cheney on, this pardon might convince a few fence straddlers to vote their conscious.
Clinton should have been impeached as well for equal or worse pardons—-but he was out of office. BushCo isn’t.
Implicit==Implied though not directly expressed; inherent in the nature of something.. IE–Libby can verbally maintain his innocense.
#60 – Democrats had the opportunity to beat Bush in 2004.
Instead, they chose to nominate John Kerry.
Who was a far superior candidate in every conceivable way. Sadly, 50.1% of America was still trapped in that deer in the headlamps stare since 9/11 and was supporting, in lemming like fashion, whatever idiot was “lucky” enough to be in charge when the tragedy occurred.
You guys act like Kerry wasn’t the choice of the other half of the country.
>the guy being pardoned didn’t work in the next room and wasn’t convicted for covering up for him.
You’re right. Susan MacDougal is not a guy.
Frank, I’ve already said it’s never happened before. But the standard of impeachment isn’t that you must have impeached someone before for the same act. And no, pardoning isn’t a crime. However, you don’t have to commit a criminal act to be impeached. Andrew Johnson was impeached for firing a Cabinet member.
Suppose, I were the president. I don’t like a particular family, so I have people kill members of the family. After each murder, I pardon the killer. I suppose in your view, this is not an impeachable offense?