Scooter Libby

May 30, 2008 -- Washington, DC - Today, House Judiciary Commitee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released the following statement in response to revelation about the Valerie Plame CIA leak made in former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's new book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception:

"I find Mr. McClellan's revelations about attempts to cover-up the Valerie Plame leak extremely troubling. Particularly disturbing is McClellan's assertion that he was specifically directed by Andy Card to 'vouch' for Scooter Libby after the investigation had begun, which, if true, could amount to obstruction of justice beyond that for which Mr. Libby has already been convicted.    » read more »

July 9, 2007 -- Dear Chairman Leahy and Chairman Conyers:

I write in response to your letter of June 29, 2007.    » read more »

7/5/2007 -- CHICAGO - The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., founder and President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, issued the following statement on President Bush's action to commute the sentence of Lewis Libby:

While no surprise, President Bush’s move to commute the 2 ½ year prison sentence of White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby is an affront to justice and fairness.    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) made the following statement after President Bush commuted the sentence of I. Lewis Libby, the vice president’s former chief of staff:

"President Bush's decision is doubly concerning. It disregards the need for justice to be served in the case of a CIA operative being outed.

More broadly, the White House has, in essence, reaffirmed its decision to use faulty information to go to war in Iraq, which is at the heart of this case and is the bigger story at play here.    » read more »

07/03/2007 -- WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) made the following statement today on President Bush's decision to commute Scooter Libby's prison sentence:

"President Bush's eleventh hour commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence makes a mockery of the justice system and betrays the idea that all Americans are expected to be held accountable for their actions, even close friends of Vice President Cheney," Senator Kerry said.    » read more »

07/03/2007 -- "Today, Tony Snow said that President Bush decided to commute Scooter Libby's 30 month prison sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice because it was 'excessive.'

"Yet, last year, the Bush administration filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court in an attempt to uphold a lower court's ruling that a 33 month prison sentence for Victor Rita, who was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, was 'reasonable.'    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- Despite assuring the American people that anyone within his Administration involved in the leaking of classified information would be “taken care of,” President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence -- a conviction he received for lying about matters of national security.    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- People across the country are outraged that President Bush has commuted the sentence of a loyal Republican insider, Scooter Libby. Once again, Bush has sent the message that the rules that apply to ordinary Americans don’t apply to his cronies or staff in the White House.    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- Today’s announcement that President Bush commuted the sentence of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a crime since the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, will have a significant impact on the 2008 presidential race. With 72 percent of Americans saying that President Bush “should not” pardon Scooter Libby, the Republican presidential candidates will have a tough time on the campaign trail defending their position. [Time magazine/SRBI poll, March 9-12]    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. -- THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. General, thank you very much for your hospitality. It's a true honor to come to Walter Reed to be able to see the docs and nurses, the physical therapists who are working with our wounded soldiers. The care here is remarkable. There has been some bureaucratic red-tape issues in the past that the military is working hard to cure. But when it comes time to healing broken bodies, this is a fabulous place.    » read more »

July 2, 2007 -- “We have known for a long time that this Administration has contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law, but today’s action by the President to intervene to save a high-ranking member of his Administration – who was found by a jury to have broken the law and obstructed justice, on behalf of the Vice President – is a new low.

It shows that this President believes there is one set of rules for his friends, and another set for everyone else.    » read more »

July 2, 2007 -- Washington, DC — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today after President Bush commuted the prison sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby for obstruction of justice:

“The President's decision to commute Mr. Libby’s sentence is disgraceful.

Libby’s conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq War.

Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone.    » read more »

July 02, 2007 -- Barack Obama today released the following statement on President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby.

"This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law.    » read more »

7/2/2007 -- Senator Hillary Clinton issued the following statement on President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby:

"Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law.

This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies.

Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent.    » read more »

07/02/2007 -- Hours after a federal appeals court ruled that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby would have to begin serving his prison sentence while appealing his conviction for crimes of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators, President Bush commuted his sentence.

Last week Vice President Cheney asserted that he was beyond the reach of the law. Today, President Bush demonstrated the lengths he would go to, ensuring that even aides to Dick Cheney are beyond the judgment of the law.

It is time for the American people to be heard.    » read more »