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July 2, 2007

President Bush Commutes Scooter Libby's Sentence

Topics: Political News and commentaries

No surprise that the Dems are unhappy about it, but commuting Scooter Libby's sentence is the right thing to do for what just may be the most ridiculous conviction in legal history - basically for a poor memory in getting his dates crossed up while under oath before a special prosecutor out for the administration's blood - during an investigation into a crime that was never committed.

Surely for political reasons, only, President Bush let stand the $250.000 fine:

Bush took the action just hours after a federal appeals court ruled that Libby was not entitled to remain free while he was appealing his conviction on four felonies.

"With the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision," Bush said in a statement issued by the White House early this evening. Although the president said he "respected" the jury's verdict, he added that he had "concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive."

More about the unhappy Dems here ...

In related coverage, Ace says that President Bush should have reduced the fine to a more reasonable $50,000, "which just so happens to be how much Sandy Berger was fined for stealing and destroying classified documents and lying about it to investigators (he wasn't charged for the latter, but subsequent revelations has made it clear he did just that). ... Making the fine $50,000 would have been more in line with Libby's transgressions, and it would have made it harder for Democrats to argue against it. The penalty -- no jail time, $50,000, probation -- would have been so similar to Berger's that one could scarcely mention it without also mentioning Berger."

Ace has a good point. So why did Scooter Libby get jail time and a $250,000 fine for getting a couple of dates crossed up when Berger got a $50,000 slap on the wrist for stealing and destroying classified documents and lying about it to investigators? The answer, of course, is that Scooter Libby should have been a Democrat. And while I certainly don't condone perjury, I do agree with John Podhoretz' points on why Libby's commutation makes sense: Nobody should lie to a grand jury. But it's simple logic that there should be some relationship to the purpose of the lie and the effect of the lie and the punishment meted out for the lie.

Posted by Richard at July 2, 2007 7:29 PM

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• President Bush Commutes Scooter Libby's Sentence - Jul 02, 2007