Bush pressured to pardon Libby
WASHINGTON – President Bush said Wednesday that he is “pretty much going to stay out of” the case of Lewis “Scooter” Libby until the legal process has run its course, deflecting pressure from supporters of the former White House aide to pardon him for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Libby’s allies said Bush should not wait for Libby to be sentenced, and should use his executive power to spare Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff the risk of prison for lying to a grand jury and FBI agents about his role in leaking the name of an undercover CIA officer. But the prospect of a pardon triggered condemnation from Democrats and caution from some Republicans wary of another furor.
Defense lawyers for Libby said they are focused on seeking a new trial and appealing Tuesday’s jury verdict, while making clear that they believe the president should step in. “Our number one goal is to see Scooter’s conviction wiped out by the courts and see him vindicated,” attorney William Jeffress Jr. said in an interview. “Now, I’ve seen all the calls for a pardon. And I agree with them. To me, he should have been pardoned six months ago or a year ago.”
In his first comments on the case since the verdict, Bush told CNN en Espanol that he has to “respect that conviction” but that he “was sad for a man who had worked in my administration.” Bush did not rule out a pardon but implied it is not imminent. “I’m pretty much going to stay out of it until the course – the case has finally run its final – the course it’s going to take,” he told Univision during an interview before a trip to Latin America that begins Thursday.
No one knows better than Libby how politically hazardous a pardon can be. Before he became Cheney’s chief of staff, Libby served as an attorney for Marc Rich, the financier whose pardon by President Bill Clinton in the last hours of his administration provoked a storm of complaints. Now he finds himself in the same situation as his onetime client, hoping for the beneficence of a president.
Libby faces a likely prison sentence of 1 1/2 to three years for lying about his role in the disclosure of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame, wife of war critic and former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. But he could avoid jail time until after the 2008 presidential elections through appeals, according to legal specialists, timing that would make a pardon more politically plausible.
Libby’s defense team intends to seek a new trial and possibly appeal his conviction on four felony counts. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has scheduled sentencing for June 5, when many lawyers expect him to allow Libby to remain out of prison pending appeals that could last through late 2008.
Some Republicans said Wednesday that Bush should wait for that process to play out. “It’s probably too early for the White House to reach a determination,” said former Rep. Robert Walker, R-Pa. Libby “is certainly entitled to take this into the appeals process and I don’t think it should be interfered with.”
But if special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald insists that Libby begin serving his sentence right away and Walton agrees, it could force the question sooner. “Then the issue could ripen very fast,” said Bradford Berenson, a former Bush White House lawyer, who said he expects a debate within the White House about what to do.
“It seems likely that the vice president will advocate for a pardon,” he said. “What’s less clear is whether the president would agree.”