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Category: News

  • Libby and Rich: pardon-me boys

    Democrats and Republicans did their best this week to draw distinctions between Bill Clinton’s pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich and George Bush’s commutation of Lewis Libby’s prison sentence.

    “I think there are guidelines for what happens when somebody is convicted,” Clinton said in a radio interview Tuesday. “You’ve got to understand, this is consistent with their philosophy; they believe that they should be able to do what they want to do, and that the law is a minor obstacle.”

    The Associated Press reports that White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel responded, “When you think about the previous administration and the 11th-hour, fire-sale pardons … it’s really startling that they have the gall to criticize what we believe is a very considered, a very deliberate approach to a very unique case.”

    Guess who used to represent Rich. That’s right, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who testified in 2001 before a congressional committee that he had performed about $2 million worth of legal work for Rich.

  • Joint Chiefs – From war room to board room

    Don’t cry for Gen. Peter Pace. Or, Adm. Ed Giambastiani.

    When they soon leave as chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they will likely have ample opportunity to make big money in the private sector.

    Consider Richard Myers, who preceded Pace as chairman. The retired Air Force general received a total of nearly $800,000 in cash, stock and other compensation last year as a director of four publicly traded companies, according to SEC filings. He is also a professor of military history at Kansas State.

    Myers is a director of Aon, Deere & Co., United Technologies and Northrop Grumman.

    Gen. Joseph Ralston, a former vice chair of the Joint Chiefs who retired in 2003, received a total of more than $640,000 in cash, stock and other compensation last year as a director of URS, Lockheed Martin and Timken, according to SEC filings.

    He is also a director of privately held Cohen Group, headed by former U.S. Sen. and Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Cohen Group is a consulting and lobbying firm.

    In addition, both Myers and Ralston are eligible for military retirement pay. Retired military leaders are in demand as directors of major corporations including Anheuser-Busch, Union Pacific, ConocoPhillips and Phelps Dodge.

    Military pay doesn’t match the private sector. But it is increasing. In April, the base salaries of the Joint Chiefs chairman and vice chairman went from about $161,000 a year to about $186,000. That’s more than the $183,500 salary of Vice President Dick Cheney.

    Last month, defense secretary Robert Gates said he would not re-nominate Pace for another term as chairman because his confirmation process would be too contentious. Pace, a Marine general who was vice chair for four years before becoming chair in 2005, has not indicated his future plans. Giambastiani said he is retiring.

    On the web
    Pace to Retire as Joint Chiefs Chairman – New York Times
    Casualty of War – Newsweek

  • Scooter Libby – Knowing people in high places

    I. Lewis Libby Jr., convicted of perjury in the CIA leak case, appreciates better than most the importance of muckety.

    His 30-month prison sentence was commuted yesterday by President Bush, who said he believed the term was excessive. Bush’s action was hailed by conservatives, who had organized a defense fund called the Libby Legal Defense Trust. Likely presidential candidate Fred Thompson was among the fundraisers.

    “This is not a man who deserves to go to jail in any sense of the word,” said long-time friend Kenneth L. Adelman.

    Current and former powerhouses who had earlier written letters to the court, urging leniency, included Donald Rumsfeld, Henry A. Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz and John Bolton.

    On the web
    Bush Spares Libby 30-Month Jail Term – New York Times
    Scooter Libby’s Pals, Trusting In Providence – Washington Post
    Scooter Libby Love Letters – Smoking Gun
    Libby Legal Defense Trust