Newsday: Rove off the hook...Bush's next decision: A Scooter Libby pardon?

[Human Torch]

http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation%2Fny-uspard0618%2C0%2C6413799%2Cprint.story%3Fcoll%3Dny-leadnationalnews-headlines

Pardon talk for Libby begins
BY TOM BRUNE
Newsday Washington Bureau

June 17, 2006, 10:48 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Now that top White House aide Karl Rove is off the hook in the CIA leak probe, President George W. Bush must weigh whether to pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the only one indicted in the three-year investigation. Speculation about a pardon began in late October, soon after Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald unsealed the perjury indictment of Libby, and it continued last week after Fitzgerald chose not to charge Rove. "I think ultimately, of course, there are going to be pardons," said Joseph diGenova, a former prosecutor and an old Washington hand who shares that view with many pundits. "These are the kinds of cases in which historically presidents have given pardons," said the veteran Republican attorney. The White House remains mum on the president's intentions. Spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to comment Friday.

Bush has powerful incentives to pardon Libby, however. They range from rewarding past loyalty to ending the awkward revelations emerging from pretrial motions, a flow that could worsen in his trial next year.

Libby was indicted for lying in Fitzgerald's probe into who in the administration leaked the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame to reporters in 2003, apparently to undercut her husband's attack on Bush's war-justifying claim that Iraq sought uranium in Niger. By demanding sensitive, sometimes embarrassing materials, some say, Libby appears to be goading the White House into issuing a pardon. Libby's spokeswoman did not respond to questions about a pardon.

One attorney familiar with the Plame case said Bush might find that it is in his interest to pardon Libby sooner rather than later. A pardon before the trial could could cut off the disclosures and spare Vice President Dick Cheney from testifying as Fitzgerald's witness about Libby, his former chief of staff. But the timing of a pardon, the attorney suggested, likely would depend on the outcome of the midterm elections.

[Warpy]

1. Oh, you know Stupid's last act will be to pardon the lot of them

Remember, the precedent for a pre emptive pardon was set by Gerald Ford, who ensured the rise of the neocons by allowing Nixon's gang to escape justice.

I honestly don't expect any sentence for any of them, up to and including
Cheney (if Fitzgerald turns out to be honest, ha!), to exceed a few months before Stupid signs a pardon.

[MissWaverly]

3. I believe that the investigation has been squashed

like Luskin's strange story about a letter from Fitzgerald saying that they would not indict
Rove unless circumstances changed. And the rumors that the investigation is over. Now there
are rumors of a Libby pardon before trial. Now Rove is crowing that he was not indicted, was it
because there was not enough evidence, because he cooperated as a witness or that the investigation was squashed. Who would know at this point, I only know that I have seen no
press conference from Fitzgerald. Spin, Spin, spin. Now the FBI is saying that there is
not enough evidence to charge Osama with 9-11. Osama did it, terra, terra, terra, let's smoke
him out of his cave. Spin, spin, spin.

[babylonsister]

4. I haven't been able to spend much time on DU lately; there are

rumors Fitz's investigation is done?:wow: Say it isn't so!

[MissWaverly]

6. article from Swiss paper

In October, Libby was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to FBI agents and a grand jury during the investigation. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in January.

That prompted speculation that Rove, too, could face charges since he had also spoken to reporters in the case.

"We believe the special counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove's conduct," Luskin said.

On Air Force One flying back from a surprise trip to Iraq, Bush said of the decision: "It's a chapter that has ended. Fitzgerald is a very thorough person. I think he's conducted his investigation in a dignified way. And he's ended his investigation." I especially like how
the decider gets to decide that the investigation is over, Woooo HOOOO, I am the decider,
I've got my hand in everything, I am not just the president, Wooo HOOOO, I am judge and jury,
TOOO!

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Rove_faces_no_charges_over_CIA_leak.html?siteSect=143&sid=6806820&cKey=1150233779000

[babylonsister]

7. Thanks, MissWaverly. Just because dimson says that

doesn't make it so. Swiss, eh? Silence from the US contingent? They'd be all over this if they thought it was true.

[Ilsa]

2. Pre-emptive pardons. Figures. I would have enjoyed seeing Libby

in prison for a year before the last day pardon. But I hope a pre-emptive pardon at least gives public recognition that Libby is GUILTY in order to be pardoned.

This is such a helpless feeling.

[rusty_parts2001]

5. In the sinister ways Washington works...

this is a trial balloon put out by Rove et al. to test the waters and see what the pushback will be. Joe DeGenova is a paid mouthpiece for the Bush regime, not a legal pundit, as he's often characterized in the MSM so having him commenting on something is a sure sign the WH is behind this story.

[calimary]

8. And isn't he married to that ridiculously pathetic victoria toensing?

She, too, is a shill. I swear, you can't find anything BUT shills for the bad guys anymore.

[jjrjsa]

9. On the last day of his presidency...

I'd expect many pardons, Libby one of them. I am no big fan of the way executive pardons work, I didn't like the way Clinton used them but I think what Big Dog did will be NOTHING compared to the wave of pardons I expect at the end of the Bush II presidency. Ken Lay? Jack the lobby king? President Skilling? Bill Frist? Who knows!