UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. I. LEWIS LIBBY, also known as "SCOOTER LIBBY"

Breaking: Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 in the CIA leak case.

 

Well if he's granted bail awaiting appeal, it could be another year before he goes to jail, so Jr can wait until he leaves office to pardon and then Libby will have served about 6 months.

 

Count one: Obstruction of justice
Alleges that Libby intentionally deceived the grand jury about how he learned, and "disclosed to the media," information about Valerie Plame Wilson's employment by the CIA.

Verdict: Guilty

Count two: Making a false statement
Alleges that Libby intentionally gave FBI agents false information about a conversation he had with NBC's Tim Russert regarding Valerie Plame Wilson, who is married to Joseph Wilson.

Verdict: Guilty

Count four: Perjury
Alleges that Libby knowingly provided false testimony in court about a conversation he had with Russert.

Verdict: Guilty

Count five: Perjury
Alleges that Libby knowingly provided false testimony in court about his conversation with reporters regarding Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA employment.

Verdict: Guilty

 

During more than six years in office, Bush has pardoned just 113 people, nearly a modern low, and never anyone who had not yet completed his sentence. He has commuted three sentences.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060501275.html?hpid=topnews

 

The Honorable Dick Cheney
Vice President
United States of America
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20501

Dear Mr. Vice President:

We call on you to recuse yourself from involvement in any issues relating to the criminal prosecution of your former aide, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, including the issue of a potential pardon, and to refrain from further public comment on the prosecution. These requests are prompted, in part, by your reported comments in which you stated your hope that “our system will return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man,” and by reports that Administration officials expect you to press for a pardon in internal White House debates.

The reasons for my request are several. First, at trial, evidence was elicited of your involvement with Mr. Libby in connection with the events that formed the basis of his prosecution. As the federal prosecutor stated in his closing argument, the evidence at trial revealed that there was “a cloud” over certain aspects of your conduct. Accordingly, your comments may be seen as blurring the distinction between the institutional interests of the Office of Vice President and your personal interests in the ultimate results of the prosecution.

Second, your comments would appear particularly inappropriate because post-trial proceedings are ongoing. Mr. Libby has announced that he intends to appeal his conviction, and his motion for bond pending appeal is before United States District Judge Reggie Walton at this time. The Executive Branch must speak through one voice on matters of criminal prosecution. We would hope a sitting Vice President would not suggest that the Government seeks any result other than that sought by the prosecutors representing the Department of Justice, or imply that the decisions of the trial court – both as to the validity of the verdict or the proper sentence – should be undone.

Thus, in light of your personal involvement in the facts that gave rise to the charges against Mr. Libby, and your apparent stake in a favorable outcome for him, we strongly urge that you recuse yourself from any further involvement – direct or indirect, official or unofficial – in any future issues that relate to his prosecution. It would be deeply divisive, and invite deep cynicism and disrespect for the legal process, were the American people to conclude that Mr. Libby undertook actions that subjected him to criminal liability to protect you, knowing or believing, or having the facts ultimately reveal, that you would thereafter take steps to protect him from the consequences of his criminal conduct.

We would appreciate your response at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary

The Honorable Jerrold Nadler
Chairman
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties

JC/

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=461

 

This is pretty dam funny. --

Dozen Top Legal Scholars Line Up for Libby Appeal

By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 11, 2007; Page A15

A dozen of the country's most respected constitutional scholars have leapt to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's aid, asking a federal judge if they could try to convince him about critical legal questions that favor letting Libby remain free while he appeals his conviction in the Valerie Plame leak case.

Within hours of Friday's filing from the scholars, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton wrote back. In the teeny-tiny print of a footnote, he said he was delighted to know that such a distinguished group was available to help argue on behalf of criminal defendants on "close questions" of the law.

Walton promised he'd ring them up very soon when -- instead of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff facing the threat of the slammer -- there might be poor defendants who need big legal minds to avoid incarceration.

Walton sentenced Libby last week to 30 months in prison and will hold a hearing on Thursday to consider whether Libby can remain free while his case is appealed.

"It is an impressive show of public service when twelve prominent and distinguished current and former law professors of well-respected schools are able to amass their collective wisdom in the course of only several days to provide their legal expertise to the Court on behalf of a criminal defendant," Walton wrote in granting the scholars' request.

He added: "The Court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics' willingness in the future to step up to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this Court and throughout the courts of our nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/10/AR2007061000990.html

 

HOOO!!!!!

BREAKING: Libby Must Report To Prison Pending Appeal

A federal judge said Thursday he will not delay a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for I. Lewis ”Scooter” Libby, a ruling that could send the former White House aide to prison within weeks.

http://thinkprogress.org/