Category: Politics

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.

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