by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright December 10, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

ropping his appeal on his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice, former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, has been given the word about an expected pardon. Libby became a convicted felon March 7, 2007, fined $250,000 and sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton June 6, 2007 to 30 months in federal prison and three years probation. Less than one month later July 3, President George W. Bush commuted Libby's sentence, preventing the 57-year-old Yale and Columbia Law graduate from doing time, infuriating former covert CIA operative Valerie Plame for whom he lied to protect Cheney from taking the heat. Cheney ordered Libby to reveal Plame's identity after her husband former Iraq Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV criticized Bush's foreign policy in the New York Times op-ed pages July 6, 2003.

      Eight days after Wilson debunked Bush's claim in the 2003 State of the Union that Saddam Hussein tried to buy “yellocake” uranium from Niger, syndicated columnist Robert C. Novak outed Plame in his twice-weekly column. U.S. Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald charged no one with the federal crime of outing a covert agent. Fitzgerald charged Libby with perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents for concocting a story about learning Plame's identity from NBC's “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert in a meeting on July 10, 2003. Russert testified he learned Plame's CIA identity Nov. 14, 2003 in Novak's Chicago Sun Times' column. “We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby's innocence,” said attorney Ted Wells, despite overwhelming evidence leading to Libby's conviction. Plame claims Libby's actions destroyed her CIA career.

      Wells insists Libby's flip-flop on his appeal constitutes a cost-benefit analysis, given the amount of time and money already invested. “However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear,” said Wells, refusing to acknowledge the growing likelihood of a presidential pardon. With only 13 months left on Bush's term, Libby stands to have the record reversed before Bush leaves office. Cheney knows that he threw Libby under the bus to spare the White House embarrassment. Libby would have never outed Plame unless told to do so by Cheney. Libby already had GOP presidential candidate and former Sen. Fred Thomson (R-Tenn.) raise millions for his legal defense.

      Outing Plame was a major embarrassment for the Republican Party before the 2006 midterm elections. If things weren't bad enough with House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) indicted in '05 for violating campaign finance laws, Libby gave the Party another black eye, contributing, in no small part, to Republicans' stunning defeat in 2006 elections. Now less than one year away from the 2008 presidential contest, Bush supporter, newly minted CIA Director Michael Hayden, finds himself juggling another scandal involving destroying video tapes of controversial interrogation techniques. Libby's decision to drop his appeal brings the Plame mess into focus only three weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Republicans don't need more bad press before the nation's first primary. Now it's GOP frontrunner former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's turn in the hot-seat.

      Press reports indicate that Giuliani allocated questionable expenses to obscure city agencies while courting his new wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons. He claimed under questioning from NBC “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert that they were needed because of heightened security risks to himself and his girlfriend. “These were all based on threat assessments mad by the New York City Police Department . . . of what were necessary to protect her life, my life other people's lives,” Giuliani explained to Russert with raised eyebrows. Longtime Giuliani friend and business partner, disgraced and indicted N.Y. City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik apparently OK'd the expenditures, giving the GOP more bad publicity. Giuliani's problems added to revelations at the CIA and Libby back in the news don't bode well for GOP fortunes. Like radioactivity, bad publicity can be lethal.

      Libby back in the headlines is bad news for the GOP heading into the 2008 presidential elections. Libby's decision to drop his appeal can only be viewed as an expected presidential pardon. Plame's husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, got it wrong calling Libby's decision proof of his guilt. “There's a pardon process that anyone can seek, and we do not comment on whether or not anyone would receive a presidential pardon,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino, refusing to rule out an eventual pardon. When Bush commuted Libby's sentence July 3, it signaled the beginning of Libby's salvation. Because Libby took the shrapnel and went down to protect Cheney, the VP wants to clear Libby's name. When you place Libby in the context of more GOP shenanigans, it doesn't look good heading into 2008. When the 11th hour pardon finally comes, it will be no surprise.

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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