by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright June 19, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

crambling to avoid federal prison, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief-of-staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby sought relief in D.C.'s U.S. Court of Appeals—a last ditch attempt before serving out a 30-month sentence. Libby was convicted March 6 of four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI for outing covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, the wife of former Iraq amabassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a White House war critic. Wilson published July 6, 2003 an op-ed in the New York Times disputing President George W. Bush's contention in the Jan. 20, 2003 State of the Union message that Saddam Hussein tried to buy “yellocake” enriched uranium from Niger. Wilson asserted that the White House manipulated pre-war intelligence to make a compelling case about weapons of mass destruction to go to war in Iraq. No WMD was ever found in Iraq.

      After reading Wilson's op-ed, Cheney ordered Libby to divulge Plame's covert identity to the press to (a) retaliate and (b) discredit Wilson for daring to suggest the White House manipulated intelligence. Libby divulged Plame's identity July 6, 2003 to Time Magazine's Matthew Cooper and former New York Times' journalist Judith Miller. A week later July 14, 2003, syndicated columnist Robert Novak revealed Plame's name in his weekly column. He learned her identity from Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, an assistant to then Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. Powell presented the White House case for war to the U.N. Security Council Feb. 6, 2003, cataloging Saddam's alleged mobile germ laboratories. Libby told the FBI and a federal grand jury that he first learned Plame's identity July 10, 2003 from NBC's Washington bureau chief Tim Russert.

      Libby sought to have U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton's conviction and sentence overturned because special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald charged no one with violating the federal law protecting the identities of covert agents. At trial Libby refused to testify and allowed his attorney Theodore V. Wells Jr. to convince a jury that Libby suffered from some unknown memory impairment. When the jury didn't buy it, he was convicted of four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal investigators. Now Libby's appellate lawyers believe the U.S. Appeals Court will set aside the verdict and 30-month sentence. Libby's lawyers want to postpone serving his sentence until he's exhausted his appeals. Walton wants Libby to report in the next two weeks to begin serving his sentence. If the appeals court denies Libby's request, only Bush stands in the way of prison.

      Bush has signaled he won't intervene until Libby exhausted his remedies in court. Commuting or pardoning Libby's sentence would have far-reaching consequences to the GOP heading into the '08 elections. Tampering with the court's sentence would infuriate Democrats and independents, desperately needed by the GOP to prevent a repeat of the Nov. 2006 midyear election, where Republicans lost 30 House seats and five in the U.S. Senate, handing control to Democrats. Pardoning or commuting Libby could sink the chances of Congressional Republicans already on shaky ground. If Libby goes to prison in two-or-three weeks, he would serve about 18 months before the '08 presidential election. All bets are off after the election, allowing Bush to issue a pardon. Before the election, Bush walks a dangerous tightrope pardoning Libby, while, at the same time, helping the GOP.

      Libby's attorneys have nothing to lose asking the D.C. Court of Appeals for injunctive relief. “The Bureau of Prisons will shortly designate a prison facility and direct Libby to report with a period of two to three weeks after designation,” wrote Libby's attorneys. “Accordingly, we respectfully ask that the court expedite the action on the application,” maneuvering one last time before Libby reports to prison. Libby finds himself sacrificed because he swore his loyalty to protect Cheney at all costs, even if it meant perjury. Cheney has never acknowledged his role in setting up his former chief of staff for a fall. No one at the White House, including Bush's chief strategist and deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, has paid any price for outing Plame. Libby shot himself in the foot by concocting such a wild story about how he originally learned of Plame's identity.

      Appealing to a three-judge panel, Libby's attorneys hope to circumvent jail time and the necessity of a presidential pardon. No one knows for sure which three judges will hear Libby's case. As Hail Mary's go, it's worth a shot. Libby's predicament stemmed from Cheney's obsession with Wilson's temerity to challenge White House claims about Saddam's arsenal of WMD—the primary excuse for going to war. Libby's real memory impairment involved forgetting his oath to the Constitution, not his boss. Libby stayed off the witness stand to avoid Fitzgerald's cross examination, promising to expose Cheney and perhaps others at the White House. Had Libby avoided concocting a wild story, he would have never been faced with doing time. With the GOP facing an uphill battle in the '08 elections, it's going to be difficult for Bush to pardon Libby without adverse consequences.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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