Washington – I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s allies renewed their call for President Bush to pardon the former White House aide but President Bush rebuffed questions Wednesday about whether he’d intervene to prevent Libby’s 2 1/2-year prison sentence.
Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced Tuesday for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation. He became the highest-ranking White House official sentenced to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.
A Republican stalwart, Libby drew more than 150 letters of support from military commanders and diplomats who praised his government service from the Cold War through the early days of the Iraq war.
“I hope the president feels sufficient pressure to issue a pardon,” former Ambassador Richard Carlson said Wednesday. “He’s a man of principle, like him or not, and the principle in this case is that a pardon is the right thing to do.”
Bush, traveling in Europe, gave no hint about his plans.
“Yesterday was a very sad day for Scooter and his family,” Bush told reporters. “But there’s an ongoing process and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to discuss it while the process is going forward.” “My heart goes out to his family,” the president added.
Libby’s attorneys, meanwhile, are rushing to try to forestall the prison sentence. They plan to file legal briefs Thursday arguing that Libby should remain free while his appeals play out.
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald – who had called for Libby to spend up to three years in prison – will oppose the request.
“We need to make the statement that the truth matters ever so much,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton indicated Tuesday he saw no reason to grant the request. If Walton denies it, he will order Libby to report to prison in the next month or so, but attorneys have said they will rush to an appeals court and try to block his imprisonment there.
Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters about Plame. Fitzgerald questioned Bush and Cheney in a probe that became a symbol of the administration’s deepening problems.
“Mr. Libby was the poster child for all that has gone wrong in this terrible war,” said defense attorney Theodore Wells. “He has fallen from public grace. It is a tragic fall, a tragic fall.” Libby has maintained his innocence.
“It is respectfully my hope that the court will consider, along with the jury verdict, my whole life,” he said in brief remarks in court before the sentencing, his first public statement about the case since his indictment in 2005.
Walton also fined Libby $250,000 and placed him on two years probation after his prison sentence expires. There is no parole in the federal system, but Libby would be eligible for release after two years.
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