June 05, 2007
Libby Slammed With 30 Months Behind Bars
UPDATED.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney and the only Bush administration official to be convicted in a lengthy probe of the leak of a CIA officer's identity, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for perjury and obstruction of justice. He was also slapped with a $250,000 fine.
Armed with dozens of letters from prominent Beltway figures praising Libby's character, defense attorneys had argued that the effective end of Libby's career in public service was punishment enough. Attorneys have always portrayed Libby as the "fall guy" for the Bush administration, and his conviction on four of five P&O counts as a runaway special prosecutor's desperate attempt to taint the White House.
But Judge Reggie Walton was more persuaded by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's argument that a harsh sentence should be meted out as a warning that power and connections ought not be exemptions for breaking the law. Fitzgerald has also noted that Libby, who maintains his innocence, has never "accepted responsibility" -- legally meaningful terminology in this case. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Libby was expected to receive between 15 to 33 months.
It's highly unlikely that Libby's team expected to hear a sentence of zero jail time. A more pressing concern was probably keeping Libby out of prison while he appeals his conviction -- which would give Libby's allies time to appeal to President Bush for a pardon. Considering that Walton's sentence fell on the harsher end of the spectrum and that there appear to be few questions surrounding Libby's conviction, however, that also seems highly unlikely.
The political chatter, of course, is already turning to when or whether Bush will pardon Libby. It's practically become normal practice for presidents to save politically embarrassing pardons for the end of their terms, as former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton did.
AP reports that Bush received word of Libby's sentence while aboard Air Force One en route to Germany for the G-8 summit. Spokeswoman Dana Perino said that while Bush "felt terrible" for Libby and his family, "The president has not intervened so far in this or any other criminal matter, so he's going to decline to do so now as well." That still arguably leaves the door open for a last-minute pardon close to Bush's January 2009 exit date.
Influential members of Bush's base viewed Libby's trial as a politically motivated farce, and argue that pardoning Libby, once one of the most trusted insiders in the White House, would be the honorable thing to do. Considering Libby's conviction was the whimpering end result of an investigation into how far the White House was willing to go to burn a critic of its policies, it's clear that Bush is damned no matter what he decides.
AP and the Washington Post have scenes from inside the courtroom. AP also has collected reaction to the sentence.
Posted at 2:24 PM
Posted to:
Bush Administration, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby
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