Fred Thompson on Why Scooter Libby Should be Pardoned

Statement

Fred Thompson on Why Scooter Libby Should be Pardoned

Posted on June 13th, 2007
By Michael in Commentaries

Excerpts from commentary aired at ABCRadio.com on June 06, 2007:

The CIA started the ball rolling by sending the Democratic partisan husband of one of its employees to Niger on a sensitive mission. Knowing an opportunity when he saw one, he returned and blasted the Bush Administration (the fact that he blatantly falsified a few important things along the way is another story). It should not have been a shock to CIA officials when people then asked, "Who is this guy and why was he sent to Niger?"

Nevertheless, the CIA demanded that the Department of Justice investigate the leak of her name.

However, there were two glaring problems for anyone with a sense of justice, or who may have gone to law school for one semester.

The Justice Department and the new Special Counsel knew that 1.) The leaking of Valerie Plame's name did not constitute a crime because she was not a "covered person" under the relative criminal statue and, 2.) the name of the leaker: State Department official Richard Armitage.

The best (Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald) could come up with was a man who was not well known to the public, but who was basically working two full-time jobs after 9/11 — trying to prevent such a thing from happening again. The White House physician says that, "Mr. Libby worked himself to exhaustion day after day reviewing national intelligence estimates." Of course, he had to make time for hours of testimony before Fitzgerald's grand jury and Fitzgerald found inconsistencies. At trial, practically every government witness not only was inconsistent with other government witnesses, but was inconsistent with regard to their own prior testimony.

Mr. Libby was convicted of perjury and false statements. For sentencing, the federal probation office filed a statement that the applicable federal guidelines called for a sentence of from 15 to 21 months.

In other words, under the law, the judge would have had ample reason for giving Mr. Libby less than 15 months, including probation.

Fitzgerald, seeing this probation report and reverting to form as someone without professional judgment or scruples when it comes to landing his prey, weighed in. Throughout the trial, Fitzgerald insisted that Valerie Plame's status was irrelevant and that the defense could not use her status in any way. But now that it came time for sentencing, Fitzgerald insisted that her status be considered, and that Mr. Libby be treated as if he'd violated the law he'd never even been charged with.

The judge rejected his own probation office's recommendation, not only doubling the 15-month minimum to 30 months, but also fining Mr. Libby $250,000 and giving him 400 hours of public service. Apparently, the judge is going to make Mr. Libby start serving his sentence in the near future, before he can get his appeal heard.

Now this excessive sentence, given by the Federal District Judge is just another in a long line of reasons why Mr. Libby should be pardoned.

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