FAVORITE OF CHENEY’S STILL CONVICTED BUT WON’T GO TO PRISON
By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post
WASHINGTON – President Bush commuted the sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby on Monday, sparing Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff 2 1/2 years in prison after a federal appeals court had refused to let Libby remain free while he appeals his conviction for lying to federal investigators.
Bush, who for months had sidestepped calls from conservatives to come to Libby’s aid, broke his silence early Monday evening, touching off an immediate uproar from Democrats who accused the White House of circumventing the rule of law to protect one of its own.
The president announced his decision in a written statement that laid out the factors he had weighed. Bush said he decided to “respect” the jury’s verdict that Libby was guilty of four felonies for lying about his role in the leak of a covert CIA officer’s identity. But the president said Libby’s “exceptional public service” and prior lack of a criminal record led him to conclude that the 30-month sentence handed down by a judge last month was “excessive.”
The president noted that he had promised before not to intervene until Libby had exhausted his appeals. But he stepped in short of that point.
“With the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent,” Bush said, “I believe it is now important to react to that decision.”
Read more at the Washington Post
Tags: president <BR/>