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I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (born August 22, 1950; first name generally given as Irve, sometimes Irving) is an
lawyer, a prominent
and former adviser to
. Libby was disbarred after being convicted of a felony in relation to the .
From 2001 to 2005, Libby held the offices of
during the
In October 2005, Libby was
by a federal
concerning the
officer . Plame's position at the CIA was considered . Libby was indicted on five counts relating to the : Two counts of , two counts of
to , and one count of . Libby resigned all three government positions immediately after the indictment was announced.
In the subsequent federal trial, , the jury
Libby on four of the five counts in the indictment (one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and one count of making false statements) and
on the second count of making false statements. The day after his conviction in that trial, he resigned his later appointment as senior advisor at the
(January 1, 2006 – March 7, 2007).
Libby is the highest-ranking White House official convicted in a
since , the
to President
On June 5, 2007, the presiding trial judge, , sentenced Libby to 30 months in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, and two years of supervised release, including 400 hours of , and then ordered Libby to begin his sentence immediately. On July 2, 2007, when Libby's appeal of Walton's order failed, President Bush
Libby's 30-month prison sentence, leaving the other parts of his sentence intact. In commuting Libby's prison term, Bush stated: "I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison. ... My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged." After Libby paid his monetary fine and penalty totaling $250,400, Judge Walton queried aspects of the presidential commutation, and lawyers filed their briefs supporting Libby's serving supervised release, resolving the issue and thus clearing the way for Libby to begin the rest of his sentence, the two years of supervised release and 400 hours of community service.
On December 10, 2007, Libby's lawyers announced that he would drop his appeal against his conviction in the case, leaving intact his remaining sentence and fine and leaving on his record his
conviction, on condition of a full presidential pardon. The next day, December 11, 2007, Bush issued 29 pardons but did not include Libby among them. As a consequence of his conviction in United States v. Libby, Libby's license to practice law was suspended by the
in December 2007. On April 3, 2007, the
suspended his license to practice law in , and recommended his
pending his appeal of his conviction. On March 20, 2008, after he dropped his appeal, he was disbarred by the , in , at least until 2012.
Libby was born to an
his late father, Irving Lewis Liebowitz, was an investment banker.
Libby graduated from the , in , a middle school, in 1965. The family lived in the
prior to Libby's graduation from , in , in 1968.
He and his elder brother, Hank, a retired tax lawyer, were the first in the family to graduate from college. Libby matriculated at
in , in Fall 1968, graduating
in 1972. As
reporter Jack Mirkinson observes, "Even though he would eventually become a prominent , Libby's political beginnings would not have pointed in that direction. He served as vice president of the
and later campaigned for
when he was running for governor of Massachusetts." According to Mirkinson: "Two particular Yale courses helped guide Libby's future endeavors. One of these was a creative writing course, which started Libby on a 20-year mission to complete a novel ... [later published as]
... [and] a political science class with professor and future Deputy Secretary of Defense . In an interview with author , Libby said Wolfowitz was one of his favorite professors, and their professional relationship did not end with the class." Wolfowitz would become a significant mentor in his later professional life.
In 1975, as a
Scholar, Libby received his
(J.D.) degree from .
Libby is married to , whom he met in , in the late 1980s, while he was a partner and she an associate in the
then known as : "'When he and Harriet became serious,' Dickstein partner Kenneth Simon wrote, 'she chose to leave the firm rather than maintain the awkward situation of an associate dating a partner.'" Libby and Grant married in the early 1990s, have a son and a daughter, and live in .
There has been a fair amount of disagreement as to Libby's full name, about which Libby has been secretive. He was
as I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby." 's
reported that the 1972 Yale Banner (the yearbook of ) gave his name as Irve Lewis Libby, Jr.; it is unclear if Irve is his , or if it is short for Irving, as it was for his father. , the , and the 's
have all used this spelling of his first name. The Times's
spelled it Irv, though he cited a phone interview with Libby's brother, and did not clarify if he had asked for a spelling.
At times, including in the Yale Banner, and as documented in a federal directory cited by
and others, Libby has used Jr. after his name. At other times, however, as listed in his federal indictment and , which give his
as Scooter Libby, there is no Jr. after Libby's name.
Libby has also been secretive about the origin of his nickname Scooter. The New York Times's Eric Schmitt, citing the aforementioned interview with Libby's brother, wrote that "His
'Scooter' derives from the day [his] father watched him crawling in his crib and joked, 'He's a Scooter!'"
In their February 2002 interview on , King asked Libby specifically, "Where did 'Scooter' come from?"; Libby replied: "Oh, it goes way back to when I was a kid. Some people ask me if ... [crosstalk] ... as you did earlier, if it's related to
[nicknamed 'The Scooter']. I had the range but not the arm."
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Libby's only novel, The Apprentice, about a group of travelers stranded in northern
in the winter of 1903 during a
epidemic, was first published in a
edition, by , in , in 1996 and reprinted as a , by , in 2002. After Libby's indictment in the , in 2005, St. Martin's Press reissued The Apprentice as a
(Griffin imprint). It has been described as "a thriller... that includes references to ,
After earning his
from Columbia in 1975, Libby joined the firm of , becoming a partner the following year (1976). He was
on October 27, 1976, and to the Bar of the
on May 19, 1978.
Libby practiced law at Schnader for six years before joining the
policy planning staff, at the invitation of his former Yale professor, , in 1981. In 1985, returning to private practice, he joined the firm then known as Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin (now
LLP), becoming a partner in 1986 and working there until 1989, when he left to work in the , again under his former Yale professor , until January 1993.
In 1993, returning to private legal practice from government, Libby became the managing partner of the
(formerly , Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, and Alexander); in 1995, along with his Mudge Rose colleague, ––who had replaced
as acting Special Counsel to U.S. President
for the last two years of his presidency dominated by , and who had hired Libby at Mudge Rose twenty years later––and three other lawyers from that firm, Libby joined the
(now part of ), where he was a managing partner, a member of its litigation department, and chaired its Public Policy Practice Group, until 2001, when he left to return to work again in government, as Vice President Cheney's chief of staff.
Fugitive billionaire commodities trader , who, along with his business partner , had been convicted of
and illegal trading with , and who, with Green, was ultimately
by President , was a client whom
had hired Libby to help represent around the spring of 1985, after Rich and Green had first engaged Garment. Libby stopped representing Rich in the spring of 2000; early in March 2001, at a "contentious"
hearing to review Clinton's pardons, Libby testified that he thought the prosecution's case against Rich "misconstrued the facts and the law". According to Jackson Hogan, Libby's roommate at , as quoted in the already-cited
article by Walsh, " 'He is intensely partisan...in that if he is your counsel, he'll embrace your case and try to figure a way out of whatever noose you are ensnared in.' " According to House Committee on Government Reform report, however, "The arguments made by Garment, [William Bradford] Reynolds and Libby [in their testimony] focused on the claim that the
was criminalizing what should have been a civil tax case. They did not make, compile, or in any other way lay the groundwork for, or make a case for a Presidential pardon. When former President
stated that they 'reviewed and advocated' 'the case for the pardons,' he suggested that they were somehow involved in arguing that Rich and Green should receive pardons. This was completely untrue". (p. 162)
Before his indictment in United States v. Libby, Libby had been a licensed ,
and the , although his Pennsylvania law license was inactive, and he had already been suspended from the
Office of Bar Counsel (D.C. Bar) for non-payment of fees. The Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals recommended permanent
upon confirmation of his conviction, which Libby had initially indicated that he would appeal. Having suspended his
on April 3, 2007, the D.C. Bar "disbarred [him] pursuant to D.C. Code § 11-2503(a)" on legal grounds of "moral turpitude", effective April 11, 2007, and recommended to the D.C. Court of Appeals his permanent
if his conviction were not overturned on . On December 10, 2007, Libby's lawyers announced his decision "to drop his appeal of his conviction in the CIA leak case". On March 20, 2008, following the dropping of his appeal of his conviction, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals disbarred Libby. As a result of the Court's ruling, "Libby will lose his license to practice or appear in court in Washington until at least 2012", and, "As is standard, he will probably lose any bar membership he holds in other states"; that is, in .
In 1981, after working as a lawyer in the Philadelphia firm Schnader LLP, Libby accepted the invitation of his former
political science professor and mentor
to join the 's policy planning staff. From 1982 to 1985, Libby served as director of special projects in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. In 1985 he received the Foreign Affairs Award for Public Service from the , and he resigned from government to enter private legal practice at . In 1989, he went to work at the Pentagon, again under Wolfowitz, as principal deputy under-secretary for strategy and resources at the .
During the , Libby was confirmed by the
as deputy under secretary of defense for policy, serving from . In 1992 he also served as legal advisor for the . Libby co-authored the draft of the
for the 1994–99 fiscal years (dated February 18, 1992) with Wolfowitz for , who was then . In 1993 Libby received the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Defense Department and the Distinguished Public Service Award from the U.S. State Department before resuming private legal practice first at
and then at .
Libby was part of a network of
known as the ""—its other members included Wolfowitz, , and . While he was still a managing partner of , he was a signatory to the "Statement of Principles" of the
(PNAC) (a document dated June 3, 1997). He joined Wolfowitz, PNAC co-founders , , and other "Project Participants" in developing the PNAC's September 2000 report entitled, "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces, and Resources for a New Century".
Further information:
After becoming Cheney's chief of staff in 2001, Libby was reportedly nicknamed "Germ Boy" at the White House, for insisting on universal
. He was also nicknamed "Dick Cheney's Dick Cheney" for his close working relationship with the Vice President. , who worked with Libby as an adviser to Cheney during Bush's first term, said of him "He is to the vice president what the vice president is to the president."
Libby was active in the
when it was chaired by
during the early years of the
(). At various points in his career, Libby has also held positions with the , been on the advisory board of the 's Center for Russia and Eurasia, and been a legal advisor to the , as well as served as a consultant for the
Libby was also actively involved in the Bush administration's effort for example, he participated in a series of meetings with Jewish leaders in early December 2002 and a meeting with two aides of then-Israeli Prime Minister
in mid-April 2003, culminating in the
on June 4, 2004. Former
said of Libby: "It's a toss-up whether [he] is working for the Israelis or the Americans on any given day." In their highly controversial and widely contested "Working Paper" entitled "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy",
political science professor
argue that Libby was among the Bush administration's most "fervently pro-Israel ... officials" (20).
Further information:
On June 5, 2007, after Judge
sentenced Libby,
bureau chief
observed that former
dissident and Israeli politician and writer
was one of many "Jews pleading leniency for Libby – without success", and that Arye Genger, who served as a liaison between Sharon and the Bush administration, credited Libby with trying to reduce civilian casualties among
during the . According to the , "Libby is Jewish, and a significant portion of those who had pleaded with the judge for a lenient sentence are leaders in Washington's Middle East policy community."
Distinguished Service Award, , 1993
Distinguished Public Service Award, , 1993
Foreign Affairs Award for Public Service, , 1985
From January 2006 until March 7, 2007, the day after his conviction in , when he resigned, Libby served as a "senior advisor" at the , focusing on "issues relating to the
and the future of ...offer[ing] research guidance and...advis[ing] the institute in strategic planning". His resignation was announced by the Hudson Institute in a press release dated March 8, 2007. However, he has served as Senior Vice President of the Hudson Institute at least since 2010.
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Further information: , , and
Between 2003 and 2005 intense speculation centered on the possibility that Libby may have been the administration official who had "leaked" classified employment information about
(Valerie Plame), the wife of
and other reporters and later tried to hide his having done so.
In August 2005, as revealed in grand jury testimony audiotapes played during the trial and reported in many news accounts, Libby testified that he met with , a reporter with the New York Times, on July 8, 2003, and discussed Plame with her.
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Although Libby signed a "blanket waiver" allowing journalists to discuss their conversations with him pursuant to the , Miller maintained that such a waiver did not serve to allow her to reveal her sourc moreover, Miller argued that Libby's general waiver pertaining to all journalists could have been
and that she would only testify before that grand jury if given an individual waiver.
After refusing to testify about her July 2003 meeting with Libby, Judith Miller was jailed on July 7, 2005 for contempt of court. Months later, however, her new attorney, , told her that she already had possessed a written, voluntary waiver from Libby all along.
After Miller had served most of her sentence, Libby reiterated that he had indeed given her a "waiver" both "voluntarily and personally." He attached the following letter, which, when released publicly, became the subject of further speculation about Libby's possible motives in sending it:
As noted above, my lawyer confirmed my waiver to other reporters in just the way he did with your lawyer. Why? Because as I am sure will not be news to you, the public report of every other reporter's testimony makes clear that they did not discuss Ms. Plame's name or identity with me, or knew about her before our call.
You went to jail in the summer. It is fall now. You will have stories to cover – Iraqi elections and , ,
and the . Out West, where you vacation, the
will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. Come back to work — and life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers.
With admiration, Scooter Libby.
After agreeing to testify, Miller was released on September 29, 2005, appearing before the grand jury the next day, but the charge against her was rescinded only after she testified again on October 12, 2005. For her second grand jury appearance, Miller produced a notebook from a previously undisclosed meeting with Libby on June 23, 2003, two weeks before Wilson's New York Times op-ed was published. In her account published in the Times on October 16, 2005, based on her notes, Miller reports:
... in an interview with me on June 23 [2003], Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, discussed Mr. Wilson's activities and placed blame for intelligence failures on the C.I.A. In later conversations with me, on July 8 and July 12 [2003], Mr. Libby, ... [at the time] Mr. Cheney's top aide, played down the importance of Mr. Wilson's mission and questioned his performance... My notes indicate that well before Mr. Wilson published his critique, Mr. Libby told me that Mr. Wilson's wife may have worked on unconventional weapons at the C.I.A.... My notes do not show that Mr. Libby identified Mr. Wilson's wife by name. Nor do they show that he described Valerie Wilson as a covert agent or "operative"...
Her notation on her July 8, 2003 meeting with Libby does contain the name "Valerie Flame [sic]", which she added retrospectively. While Miller reveals publicly that she herself had misidentified the last name of Wilson's wife (aka "Valerie Plame") in her own marginal notes on their interview as "Flame" instead of "Plame", in her grand jury (and later trial testimony), she remained uncertain when, how, and why she arrived at that name and did not attribute it to Libby:
I was not permitted to take notes of what I told the grand jury, and my interview notes on Mr. Libby are sketchy in places. It is also difficult, more than two years later, to parse the meaning and context of phrases, of underlining and of parentheses. On one page of my interview notes, for example, I wrote the name "Valerie Flame." Yet, as I told Mr. Fitzgerald, I simply could not recall where that came from, when I wrote it or why the name was misspelled... I testified that I did not believe the name came from Mr. Libby, in part because the notation does not appear in the same part of my notebook as the interview notes from him.
A year and a half later, a jury would convict Libby of obstruction of justice and perjury in his grand jury testimony and making false statements to federal investigators about when and how he learned that Plame was a CIA agent.
In the 2010 film , concerning the Plame affair, the role of Libby was played by .
On October 28, 2005, as a result of the ,
Fitzgerald indicted Libby on five counts: one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of making false statements when interviewed by agents of the , and two counts of perjury in his testimony before the grand jury. Pursuant to the grand jury investigation, Libby had told
investigators that he first heard of Mrs. Wilson's CIA employment from Cheney, and then later heard it from journalist , and acted as if he did not have that information. The indictment alleges that statements to federal investigators and the grand jury were intentionally false, in that Libby had numerous conversations about Mrs. Wilson's
employment, including his conversations with
(see above), before speaking to R Russert did not tell Libby about Mrs. Wilson's CIA prior to talking with such reporters, Libby knew with certainty that she was employed by the CIA; and Libby told reporters that she worked for the CIA without making any disclaimer that he was uncertain of that fact. The false statements counts in the Libby indictment charge that he intentionally made those false statements to the FBI; the perjury counts charge that he intentionally lied to the grand jury in repeating th and the obstruction of justice count charges that Libby intentionally made those false statements in order to mislead the grand jury, thus impeding Fitzgerald's grand jury investigation of the truth about the leaking of Mrs. Wilson's then-classified, covert CIA identity.
On March 6, 2007, the jury
him on four of the five counts but
him on count three, the second charge of
when interviewed by federal agents about his conversations with
reporter .
After being questioned by the FBI in the fall of 2003 and testifying before a Federal grand jury on March 5, 2004, and again on March 24, 2004, Libby pleaded not guilty to all five counts. According to the , , Cheney's legal counsel, described a September 2003 meeting with Libby around the time that a criminal investigation began, saying that Libby had told him, "'I just want to tell you, I didn't do it'... I didn't ask what the 'it' was.'"
Libby retained attorney
of the firm of
to represent him. Wells had successfully defended former
against a 30-count indictment and had also participated in the successful defense of former
After Judge
denied Libby's , the press initially reported that Libby would testify at the trial. Libby's , , began on January 16, 2007. A parade of –winning journalists testified, including ,
of . Despite earlier press reports and widespread speculation, neither Libby nor Vice President Cheney testified. The jury began deliberations on February 21, 2007.
After deliberating for 10 days, the jury rendered its verdict on March 6, 2007. It convicted Libby on four of the five counts against him: two counts of perjury, one count of obstruction of justice in a
investigation, and one of the two counts of making false statements to .
Speaking to the media outside the courtroom after the verdict, Fitzgerald said that "The jury worked very long and hard and deliberated at length ... [and] was obviously convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had lied and obstructed justice in a serious manner... I do not expect to file any further charges." The trial confirmed that the leak came first from then-Deputy Secretary of S since Fitzgerald did not charge Armitage and did not charge anyone else, Libby's conviction effectively ended the investigation.
In his October 28, 2005 press conference about the grand jury's indictment, Fitzgerald had already explained that Libby's obstruction of justice through perjury and false statements had prevented the grand jury from determining whether the leak violated federal law.
During his media appearance outside the courtroom after the verdict in the Libby case, Fitzgerald fielded questions from the press about others involved in the
and in the , such as Armitage and Cheney, whom he had already described as under "a cloud", as already addressed in his conduct of the case and in his closing arguments in court.
After the verdict, initially, Libby's lawyers announced that he would seek a new trial, and that, if that attempt were to fail, they would
Libby's conviction. Libby did not speak to reporters. Libby's defense team eventually decided against seeking a new trial.
Given current federal sentencing guidelines, which are not mandatory, the conviction could have resulted in a sentence ranging from no imprisonment to imprisonment of up to 25 years and a fine of $1,000,000; yet, as Sniffen and Apuzzo observe, "federal sentencing guidelines will probably prescribe far less." In practice, according to federal sentencing data, three-fourths of the 198 defendants found guilty of obstruction of justice in 2006 served jail time. The average length of jail time on this charge alone was 70 months.
On June 5, 2007, Judge Walton sentenced Libby to 30 months in prison and fined him $250,000. According to Apuzzo and Yost, the judge also "placed him on two years probation after his prison sentence expires. There is no parole in the federal system, but Libby would be eligible for release after two years." In addition, Judge Walton required Libby to provide "400 hours of community service" during his supervised release. On June 5, 2007, after the announcement of Libby's sentencing,
reported that Libby still "plans to appeal the verdict".
That day, in response to the sentencing,
Cheney issued a statement in Libby's defense on
website. The statement concluded: "Speaking as friends, we hope that our system will return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man."
Prior to the sentencing, along with , as cited earlier, 173 others had sent Walton letters "plead[ing] for leniency" for Libby.
Joseph and Valerie Wilson posted their statement on Libby's sentencing in
on their website.
After the June 5 sentencing, Walton said he was inclined to jail Libby after the defense laid out its proposed appeal, but the judge told attorneys he was open to changing his mind"; however, on June 14, 2007, Walton ordered Libby to report to prison while his attorneys appealed the conviction. Libby's attorneys asked that the order be stayed, but Walton denied the request and told Libby that he would have 10 days to appeal the ruling. In denying Libby's request, which had questioned Fitzgerald's authority to make the charges in the first place, Walton supported Fitzgerald's authority in the case. He said: "Everyone is accountable, and if you work in the White House, and if it's perceived that somehow (you're) linked at the hip, the American public would have serious questions about the fairness of any investigation of a high-level official conducted by the attorney general." The judge was also responding to an
brief that he had permitted to be filed, which had not apparently convinced him to change his mind, as he subsequently denied Libby bail during his appeal. His "order grant[ing] the [legal academic] scholars permission to file their brief..." contained a caustic footnote questioning the motivation of the legal academics and suggesting he might not give a great deal of weight to their opinion[:]
... It is an impressive show of public service when twelve prominent and distinguished current and former law professors 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. The Court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics' willingness in the future to step to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this Court and throughout the courts of this nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions even in instances where failure to do so could result in monetary penalties, incarceration, or worse. The Court will certainly not hesitate to call for such assistance from these luminaries, as necessary in the interests of justice and equity, whenever similar questions arise in the cases that come before it."
Moreover, when the hearing started, "in the interest of full disclosure," Walton informed the court that he had "received a number of harassing, angry and mean-spirited phone calls and messages. Some wishing bad things on me and my family... [T]hose types of things will have no impact... I initially threw them away, but then there were more, some that were more hateful... [T]hey are being kept." New York Times reporters Neil Lewis and David Stout estimated subsequently that Libby's prison sentence could begin within "two months", explaining that
Judge Walton’s decision means that the defense lawyers will probably ask a federal appeals court to block the sentence, a long-shot move. It also sharpens interest in a question being asked by Mr. Libby’s supporters and critics alike: Will President Bush pardon Mr. Libby? ... So far, the president has expressed sympathy for Mr. Libby and his family but has not tipped his hand on the pardon issue. ... If the president does not pardon him, and if an appeals court refuses to second-guess Judge Walton’s decision, Mr. Libby will probably be ordered to report to prison in six to eight weeks' time. Federal prison authorities will decide where. "Unless the Court of Appeals overturns my ruling, he will have to report", Judge Walton said.
On June 20, 2007, Libby appealed Walton's ruling in federal appeals court. The following day, Walton filed a 30-page expanded ruling, in which he explained his decision to deny Libby bail in more detail.
On July 2, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied Libby's request for a delay and release from his prison sentence, stating that Libby "has not shown that the appeal raises a substantial question under federal law that would merit letting him remain free," increasing "pressure on President George W. Bush to decide soon whether to pardon Libby... as the former White House official's supporters have urged."
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Soon after the verdict, calls for Libby to be
by President
began to appea some of them were posted online by the Libby Legal Defense Trust (LLDT). U.S. Senate Majority Leader
issued a press release about the verdict, urging Bush to pledge not to pardon Libby, and other Democratic politicians followed his lead.
Surveying "the pardon battle" and citing both pro and con publications,
online columnist
concludes that many U.S. newspapers opposed a presidential pardon for Libby. Much of this commentary obscured the fact that the clemency power provided the President with several options short of a full, unconditional pardon. In an op-ed published in , former federal prosecutor and conservative activist
argued the sentence was too stringent and that, instead of pardoning Libby, Bush should commute his sentence.
After the sentencing, Bush stated on camera that he would "not intervene until Libby's legal team has exhausted all of its avenues of appeal ... It wouldn't be appropriate for me to discuss the case until after the legal remedies have run its course." Ultimately, less than a month later, on July 2, 2007, Bush chose Otis's 'third option' — "neither prison nor pardon" — in commuting Libby's prison sentence.
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After Libby was denied
during his appeal process on July 2, 2007, Bush
Libby's 30-month federal prison sentence, calling it "excessive", but he did not change the other parts of the sentence and their conditions. That presidential commutation left in place the felony conviction, the $250,000 fine, and the terms of probation. Some have criticized the move, as presidential commutations are rarely issued, but when granted they have generally occurred after the convicted person has already served a substantial portion of his or her sentence: "We can't find any cases, certainly in the last half-century, where the president commuted a sentence before it had even started to be served," said former
Margaret Colgate Love. Others, notably Cheney himself who argued that Libby was unfairly charged by a politically motivated prosecution, believed that the commutation fell short, as Libby would likely never practice law again.
At the time, Bush explained his "Grant of Executive Clemency" to Libby, in part, as follows:
Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.
I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.
My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting.
Bush's explanation was written by ,
during the last two years of Bush's presidency. According to a Time Magazine article published six months after Bush left office, Fielding worded the commutation "in a way that would make it harder for Bush to revisit it in the future...; [the] language was intended to send an unmistakable message, internally as well as externally: No one is above the law." The article suggested that there was a fundamental difference between how Bush and Cheney viewed the "War on Terror", with aides close to Bush feeling that Cheney had misled the President and damaged the administration's moral character with the Plame leak.
Libby's lawyer,
"issued a brief statement saying Mr. Libby and his family 'wished to express their gratitude for the president's decision... We continue to believe in Mr. Libby’s innocence'...."
Prosecutor , however, took issue with Bush's description of the sentence as 'excessive', saying it was "[i]mposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country... It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals... [T]hat principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing," Fitzgerald said.
The day after the commuting of Libby's sentence, James Rowley () reported that Bush had not ruled out pardoning Libby in the future and that Bush's press spokesman, , denied any political motivation in the commutation. Quoting Snow, Rowley added: "'The president is getting pounded on
because he didn't do a full pardon.' If Bush were 'doing the weather-vane thing' he 'would have done something differently.'"
Democratic politicians' responses stressed their outrage at what they called a disgraceful abrogation of justice, and, that evening
reported that Representative , Democrat of , announced that there would be a formal
investigation of Bush's commutation of Libby's sentence and other presidential reprieves.
The hearing on "The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials" was held by the , chaired by Rep. Conyers, on July 11, 2007.
In his public statement accompanying his executive clemency proclamation, Bush stated that he believes the sentence "harsh ... based in part on allegations never presented to the jury," that "[the] reputation [Libby] gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged," and that "[the] consequences of his
on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting." Libby paid the required fine of "$250,400, which included a 'special assessment' of costs" that same day.
Just a few days later, however, Judge Walton questioned "whether ... [Libby] will face two years of probation, as [President Bush] said he would," because the supervised release time is conditioned on Libby's serving the prison sentence, and he "directed the special prosecutor, , and ... [Libby's] lawyers to file arguments on the point...." "If Judge Walton does not impose any supervised release, it could undercut ... [Bush's] argument that ... Libby still faced stiff justice." That issue was resolved on July 10, 2007, clearing the way for Libby to begin serving the rest of his sentence, the supervised release and 400 hours of community service.
In response to Bush's justifications for , liberal commentator Harlan J. Protass noted that in , the case of a defendant convicted of perjury in front of a
which had been decided two weeks earlier by the , the U.S. government had successfully argued that sentences that fall within
are presumed to be "reasonable", regardless of individual circumstances.
Reportedly outraged by Bush's commutation of Libby's prison sentence, on July 2, 2007, Wilson told : "I have nothing to say to Scooter Libby... I don't owe this administration. They owe my wife and my family an apology for having betrayed her. Scooter Libby is a traitor. Bush's action ... demonstrates that the White House is corrupt from top to bottom." He reiterated this perspective on the commutation in the
hearing on July 11, 2007, vehemently protesting that a
congressman was engaging in "yet a further smear of my wife's good name and my good name."
According to a / conducted from July 6 to July 8, 2007, "most Americans disagree with President George W. Bush's decision to intervene" on Libby's behalf in the case.
Several months after Bush's action, Judge Walton commented publicly on it. He spoke in favor of applying the law equally, stating: "The downside [of the commutation] is there are a lot of people in America who think that justice is determined to a large degree by who you are and that what you have plays a large role in what kind of justice you receive...."
Bush took no further action with respect to Libby's conviction or sentence during his presidential term, despite entreaties from conservatives that he should be pardoned. Two days after their term expired, former Vice President Cheney expressed his regret that Bush had not pardoned Libby on his last day in office.
Further information:
played a prominent role in the press coverage of Libby's trial. Scott Shane, in his article "For Liberal Bloggers, Libby Trial Is Fun and Fodder", published in The New York Times on February 15, 2007, quotes [], president of the , who wrote that the trial was "the first federal case for which independent bloggers have been given official credentials along with reporters from the traditional news media." The trial was followed in the
and engaged the interest of both professional legal experts and the general public. While awaiting the judge's ruling pertaining to supervised release and the "400 hours of community service that Judge Walton imposed", for example, bloggers discussed the legal issues involved in these non-commuted parts of Libby's sentence and their effects on Libby's future life experiences.
On August 28, 2006,
asserted that
was the primary source of the Valerie Plame leak and that Fitzgerald knew this at the beginning of his investigation. This was supported a month later by Armitage himself, who stated that Fitzgerald had instructed him not to go public with this information.
questioned Fitzgerald's truthfulness in an editorial, stating "From top to bottom, this has been one of the most disgraceful abuses of prosecutorial power in this country's history...The Plame case proves [Fitzgerald] can bend the truth with the proficiency of the slickest of pols."
In September 2008, attorney
cited the "questionable investigation[s]" of Scooter Libby as evidence of the problems brought to the criminal justice process by "politically appointed and partisan attorney[s] general".
Main article:
On July 13, 2006, Joseph and Valerie Wilson filed a civil lawsuit against Libby, , , and other unnamed senior White House officials (among whom they later added ) for their role in the public disclosure of Valerie Wilson's classified CIA status. Judge
dismissed the Wilsons' lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds on July 19, 2007. The Wilsons appealed Bates's district-court decision the next day. Agreeing with the Bush administration, the Obama Justice Department argues the Wilsons have no legitimate grounds to sue. Melanie Sloan, one of the Wilsons' attorneys, said: "We are deeply disappointed that the Obama administration has failed to recognize the grievous harm top Bush White House officials inflicted on Joe and Valerie Wilson. The government’s position cannot be reconciled with President Obama's oft-stated commitment to once again make government officials accountable for their actions."
On June 21, 2009, the
refused to hear the appeal.
Libby's voting rights were restored in 2013 by Virginia governor Bob McDonnell.
has original text related to this article:
Wikinews has related news:
has original text related to this article:
Sometimes referred to as I. Lewis Libby, Jr.
Sometimes spelled Irv
Eric Schmitt, , , April 30, 2001; accessed March 23, 2008
Dreyfuss, Robert (April 17, 2006). . The American Prospect 2008.
, June 1, 2007
Joel Seidman, , <, May 29, 2007; accessed June 10, 2007
in United States of America vs. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby", , October 28, 2005; accessed December 10, 2007
Kenneth T. Walsh, , , October 31, 2005; accessed September 23, 2006
, , Times Topics, updated periodically, March 6, 2007, accessed July 6, 2007.
Hudson Institute Communications, , official press release, , January 6, 2006; accessed June 29, 2007; see also: , , n.d., accessed June 29, 2007. [The biography currently lists only "Senior Advisor"; cf. , Right Web (), last updated March 21, 2007; accessed July 1, 2007: "As of mid-March 2007 ... Libby's bio page was no longer available on the (Hudson Institute) website, and his name was not included on the organization's list of scholars."]
Tim Grieve,
("Update"), , May 31, 2007; accessed July 17, 2007
See also: , , , October 26, 2007; accessed July 6, 2007
Paul Courson, Brianna Keilar, Brian Todd, , and the , , , June 5, 2007
Matt Apuzzo and Pete Yost (), , , June 5, 2007
See qualification in , , TalkLeft (accredited press blog), June 5, 2007: "Note: CNN [in its television broadcasts and some online reports] erroneously reported that Libby's sentence included 2 years probation. In fact, it was supervised release, which is similar but different from probation, and replaced parole in the federal system in 1987."
, , TalkLeft (accredited press blog), July 5, 2007, accessed July 8, 2007. (Provides link to
of Judge Walton's
in , filed June 22, 2007, accessed July 8, 2007.)
, , June 14, 2007, accessed July 8, 2007.
, , , July 2, 2007
Edwin Chen, , , July 2, 2007, accessed July 2, 2007.
Neil Lewis and Jim Rutenberg, , , July 6, 2007
Neil A. Lewis, , , July 10, 2007.
CBS, , December 10, 2007. ("Wells said he has not discussed a possible pardon with the president and does not know what Mr. Bush will do.")
, , , December 12, 2007
, Search Facility, Disciplinary Board of the , accessed April 12, 2008.
. Libby is listed in the general "name" search (erroneously) as "I L Lewis Libby Jr." and in hyperlinked documents as "I. Lewis Libby, Jr." Since 2007 he has been identified as "disbarred" and no longer a "member" of the D.C. Bar.
The D.C. Bar revised its "Professional Rules of Conduct" on February 1, 2007, according to its "Bar News" se accessed June 5, 2007. On April 3, 2007, the
("In the Matter of I. Lewis Libby, Jr. ... Bar Registration No. 950758"), suspending Libby "immediately from the practice of law in the District of Columbia pending resolution of this matter [in United States v. Libby]", which the Office of Bar Counsel (D.C. Bar) received on April 4, 2007, directing it to "inform the Court if the matter is resolved without the necessity of further court action." In that order, "the Board directed the Bar Counsel to file a brief addressing whether [Libby's] crimes inherently involve ." In its brief, filed on April 24, 2007, entitled , the D.C. Bar stated that his crimes amounted to "moral turpitude" and recommended to the
Board on Professional Responsibility that Libby "be disbarred pursuant to D.C. Code § 11-2503(a)", which reads (in pertinent part): "When a member of the bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals is convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude... the court shall, pending final determination of an appeal from the conviction, suspend the member of the bar from practice... If a final judgment of conviction is certified to the court, the name of the member of the bar so convicted shall be struck from the roll of the members of the bar and such person shall thereafter cease to be a member." Pursuant to the policy on "Moral Turpitude" contained therein, it is also noted (n. 4) that Libby's "disbarment should be deemed to commence, for reinstatement purposes, on April 11, 2007, the date that [he] filed an affidavit in compliance with D.C. Bar R. XI, § 14(g)." The brief lists Libby's admission to practice law in that jurisdiction as May 19, 1978. At that time Libby's lawyers filed notification of his intention to appeal his conviction within ten days after his sentencing with the D.C. Bar, an appeal that he subsequently decided to drop ( Apuzzo's account of December 10, 2007, op cit)
Carol D. Leonnig, , , p. A2, March 21, 2008
Mike Pesca, ,
October 19, 2005 (NPR audio player clip); accessed July 10, 2007.
Cf. , ", , November 2, 2005; rpt. in ,
(JTA), November 6, 2005; updated November 7, 2005; both accessed July 16, 2007
Nick Bromell, ,
() (Winter 2007) and
Why My Friend Scooter Libby Is Loyal to Bush, Cheney and an Arrogant Administration Whose Values Are Not His Own", , January 24, 2007 (P restricted access); both accessed June 8, 2007.
Scott Shane, , , January 17, 2007; accessed July 5, 2007
Daniela Deane, with Mark Leibovich, ", , October 28, 2005; accessed June 30, 2007
Jack Mirkinson, , , October 5, 2005; accessed July 12, 2007
Stephen Smith,
Cheney's Chief Of Staff Both Political Insider And Acclaimed Novelist", , October 28, 2005, accessed March 7, 2007.
(archived June 25, 2007), archived biography at the Libby Legal Defense Trust, n.d., accessed July 16, 2007 and April 12, 2008 (now-obsolete information such as D.C. Bar membership needs updating)
Emma Schwarz, , , June 11, 2007; accessed July 1, 2007
Mark Leibovich, , , October 23, 2005; appended correction, accessed March 26, 2007
Paul Reynolds, , , October 28, 2007; accessed July 16, 2007
Larry King and Lewis 'Scooter' Libby,
CNN Larry King Weekend: Interviews with Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Don Rickles, Mike Medavoy", , , aired February 16, 2002; accessed February 27, 2007
Lewis Libby, The Apprentice (St. Paul, MN: , 1996; rpt. New York: , 2002; rpt. New York: , 2005);
Julian Borger, , , November 11, 2005; accessed February 23, 2007.
, , , November 9, 2005; accessed July 3, 2007
)", The Disciplinary Board of the
(public search facility), accessed June 5, 2007.
Emma Schwartz, , , April 6, 2007; accessed July 5, 2007
Richard S. Curtiss,
The Nexus of Washington’s Neocon Network", , September , accessed March 4, 2007.
Matt Apuzzo (AP), , , via , December 10, 2007 ("President Bush could wipe away the conviction with a full pardon, something he has refused to rule out. [Theodore] Wells [one of his lawyers] said Monday [December 10, 2007] that he has not spoken to the White House about a pardon and does not know what Bush will do.")
"Leonard Garment and Four Other
Lawyers Join Washington, D.C. Office of Decert Price & Rhoads", , November 20, 1995, Financial News, accessed via
on July 16, 2007.
(archived July 26, 2005), , July 2005; accessed April 18, 2008
For a detailed commentary on the contexts of Libby's work on the Rich case, see 32–33 of
(Chap. One), , report of the , online posting, <, March 14, 2002, et passim; accessed July 16, 2007 (quotes Libby's testimony from government transcript).
(Archives), March 2, 2001, accessed February 16, 2007.
Board on Professional Responsibility, : Bar Docket No. 372-05: A Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (Bar Registration No: 950758): REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD ON PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY", May 14, 2007; accessed April 18, 2008
("In the Matter of I. Lewis Libby, Jr. ... Bar Registration No. 950758"), filed April 3, 2007; accessed June 17, 2007
For information about the law firm of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, see its website at , n.d., accessed June 30, 2007.
District of Columbia Court of Appeals, , submitted March 6, 2008, decided March 20, 2008, accessed April 18, 2008.
, et al., , June 3, 1997; accessed May 28, 2007.
MSNBC News Services
Vice President's Former Top Aide is Called 'Dick Cheney's Dick Cheney'", , updated October 28, 2005; accessed February 17, 2007
(Principal Author), et al. (), &#160;PDF&#160;(852&#160;,) September 2000; accessed June 5, 2007 (Project Co-Chairmen: full list of "Project Participants" – I.&#160;Lewis Libby " appears on page 90, followed by this note: "The above list of individuals participated in at least one project meeting or contributed a paper for discussion. The report is a product solely of the
and does not necessarily represent the views of the project participants or their affiliated institutions.")
Karen Kwiatkowski, , , March 10, 2007; accessed April 19, 2007
Jeremy Scahill, , online posting, , November 9, 2005 (November 28, 2005 issue): 2; accessed March 3, 2007
Matthew E. Berger, , , December 2, 2002; accessed March 24, 2007: "some Jewish leaders also met Wednesday [November 30, 2002] with Bush administration officials, including the deputy secretary of state, , and Lewis Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney... The message from those meetings, attendees said, was that the United States will not deviate from Bush's June 24 speech, in which he called for new Palestinian leadership and, possibly, a Palestinian state within three years..."
Steven R. Weisman, ,
April 17, 2003, accessed March 23, 2008: "It was considered significant that the White House meeting with 's aides on Tuesday [April 15, 2003] was attended on the American side not only by Secretary of State
and , the national security adviser, but by others in the administration whom
considers more sympathetic. ... These other officials included , the top
adviser on the Middle East, as well as I.&#160;Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, and , under secretary of defense for policy."
Qtd. by Geoffrey Wheatcroft,
Israel, Once Seen As a Refuge, Has Become One of the Few Places Where Jews Are Attacked Simply for Being Jews", , April 25, 2005; accessed June 30, 2007; a book review of Jacob's Gift: A Journey into the Heart of Belonging, by
(London: Hamish Hamilton, 2005), ; The Question of Zion, by
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005); and The Return of Anti-Semitism, by
(London: Politico's, 2005); Wheatcroft quotes Straw:
... neoconservatism is an episode, an important and interesting one, in the intellectual and political history of Jewish America, and it is impudent to call anyone who mentions this a bigot. Schoenfeld suggests that only racist crackpots ever query the commitment of senior Washington officials, but it was , himself a descendant of Jewish immigrants, who said of Lewis Libby, Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff: "It's a toss-up whether Libby is working for the Israelis or the Americans on any given day."
Wheatcroft's book, The Controversy of Zion: Jewish Nationalism, the Jewish State, and the Unresolved Jewish Dilemma (London: Perseus Books, 1996),
(13), won a National Jewish Book Award (U.S.); the former editor of
(UK), he is also the author of The Strange Death of Tory England (London: Allen Lane, 2005);
(13). That remark by Straw is quoted by New Statesman editor
in his book Blair's Wars (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003; London: Free Press, 2004);
(13); cf. Charles Grant, , Centre for European Reform (UK), October 2003, accessed June 30, 2007 (6 pages):
Kampfner's book contains some wonderful vignettes. He describes how badly the
camp gets on with Vice-President
and his office, and particularly with Lewis Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, who is close to Israel's
party. In 2002, while
was having a difficult trip in the Middle East, he complained to
always seemed to have advance notice of the U.S. position. Kampfner reports that Straw later remarked, "It is a toss up whether Libby is working for the Israelis or the Americans on any given day."
(Department of Political Science, ) and
(, Harvard University), , online posting, , March 2006 (RWP06‐11), accessed July 1, 2007. (Document features institutional disclaimer and notes that "An edited and reworked version of this paper" was published in , 28.6 (March 23, 2006), "available online at www.lrb.co.uk." The LRB version entitled
contains the same passage qtd. it is rpt. as part of the LRB feature article entitled "The Israel Lobby Debate", incorporating a video link to "Israel lobby: does it have too much influence on American foreign policy?"; "The panellists [sic] were , , , ,
and , and the moderator was ." Also accessed July 1, 2007.)
(JTA), June 5, 2007, accessed, June 15, 2007; rpt. in
of Northern California, June 8, 2007, accessed June 15, 2007. All 174 sentencing letters have been re these letters have been posted and/or referred to in various online news sites and in the compiled indices of Libby-related news articles hosted by major
sites such as
and . A central source of all the letters cited by Kampeas is the &#160;PDF&#160;(17.9&#160;),
(online newsletter of the ), n.d., accessed June 15, 2007. They are presented alphabetically, according to the last name of the writer(s).
, , July 2, 2007; accessed July 13, 2007
David Johnston, , , January 7, 2006; accessed July 5, 2007
. Hudson Institute.
, , , October 11, 2005; accessed June 28, 2007
, , Capital Games (blog), , February 6, 2006; accessed April 18, 2007
, transcript and NPR audio player clips, , February 9, 2007; accessed June 29, 2007
For transcripts of the trial testimony, including that by , "edited & with reporting by Murray Waas", see , ed., with Jeff Lomonaco, The United States v. I. Lewis Libby (New York: Union Square Press (imprint of ), 2007);
, , , last updated June 27, 2007; accessed June 29, 2007.
Lewis Libby, ,&#160;PDF&#160;(3.12&#160;) , September 15, 2005), accessed February 17, 2007.
, , , November 11, 2005; accessed June 29, 2007
, , , October 16, 2005; accessed March 23, 2008
Michael J. Sniffen and Matt Apuzzo (), Ex-Cheney Aide Libby Found Guilty of Obstruction, Perjury, Lying to the FBI in CIA Leak Case", , March 6, 2007; accessed June 10, 2007
The Hollywood Reporter, October 15, 2010
Clarice Feldman, , , January 30, 2006, as confirmed by the playing of Libby's taped grand jury testimony in court on February 7, 2007.
, , February 8, 2007, accessed July 14, 2007.
Packed Court Hears NBC Newsman Deny Identifying CIA Operative", , February 12, 2007, accessed July 14, 2007.
, , January 30, 2007, accessed February 15, 2007.
, A Verdict Clearing Espy Is the Latest Sign That the Independent-Counsel Statute Is Likely to Perish", , December 17, 1998, accessed July 3, 2007.
, , TalkLeft (accredited press blog), September 23, 2006; accessed January 24, 2007
, , transcript,
("Live Online" discussion), March 6, 2007
and Neil Lewis, , , March 6, 2007
, , March 6, 2007; accessed March 6, 2007
Cheney’s Ex-aide Faces Jail Time in CIA Leak C Sentencing Set for June", , March 6, 2007, updated 9:18 p.m., ET, accessed March 7, 2007
, March 6, 2007; accessed June 8, 2007. (Access limited to one viewing per day.)
, , October 28, 2005; accessed June 8, 2007
and video clips presented on , , March 6, 2007
TalkLeft (accredited press blog), February 24, 2007; accessed June 8, 2007, observes that "Fitzgerald squarely blames Libby for putting the cloud on the Vice President," quoting from Fitzgerald's closing arguments, e.g.:
There is a cloud over the vice president. He sent Libby off to [meet with former New York Times reporter] Judith Miller at the St. Regis Hotel. At that meeting, the two hour meeting, the defendant [Libby] talked about the wife [Plame]. We didn't put that cloud there. That cloud remains because the defendant obstructed justice and lied about what happened... He's put the doubt into whatever happened that week, whatever is going on between the Vice President and the defendant, that cloud was there. That's not something that we put there. That cloud is something that we just can't pretend isn't there.
, , March 6, 2007, accessed March 6, 2007.
, Chairman, Libby Defense Trust, and the Advisory Committee, , Libby Defense Trust, <, June 1, 2007, accessed June 5, 2007.
Richard B. Schmitt and David G. Savage, , , July 4, 2007; accessed July 5, 2007
, whitehouse.gov, June 5, 2007, accessed June 6, 2007.
Joseph and Valerie Wilson,
(archived July 3, 2007),
(archived January 5, 2009), June 5, 2007; accessed June 6, 2007
and Brief of Law Professors , , , , , , Earl M. Maltz, , Robert F. Nagel, Gary Lawson, Richard D. Parker and Robert J. Pushaw as
in Connection with Defendant's Motion for Bail Pending Appeal", filed June 8, 2007, online posting, Scooter Libby Defense Trust, June 7, 2007, accessed June 15, 2007.
Cf. Josh Gerstein,
Group Includes , ", , June 8, 2007, updated June 9, 2007, accessed June 15, 2007.
Neil A. Lewis and , , , June 14, 2007; accessed June 16, 2007
, , , June 20, 2007
Josh Gerstein,
Details Decision Not Allowing Libby to Remain Free", , June 22, 2007
, , filed June 21, 2007; accessed July 8, 2007
Cary O'Reilly, , , July 2, 2007. According to O'Reilly, "The appeals court case is U.S. v. Libby, 07-3068, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Washington)."
Cf. Matt Apuzzo (), , , July 2, 2007. ["The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has not yet assigned Mr. Libby a prison or given him a date to surrender, but last week it designated him as federal inmate No. ."]
; the LLDT website featured a "Message from the Chairman", former Ambassador , and the Advisory Committee, June 1, 2007; accessed March 7, 2007
, , democrats.senate.gov March 6, 2007; accessed April 5, 2007; cf. news account in , CNN News, March 7, 2007; accessed April 5, 2007
, , White House Watch (column and blog), , June 7, 2007; accessed June 7, 2007
, , June 7, 2007: A-27; posted online June 7, 2007; accessed June 7, 2007
Jim Rutenberg, , , June 7, 2007; accessed June 7, 2007
(July 24, 2009). . . [A]mong Bush aides, the presidential statement was seen as a fail-safe, a device that would prevent a backtrack later on. Fielding crafted the commutation in a way that would make it harder for Bush to revisit it in the future....Bush's allies would say later that the language was intended to send an unmistakable message, internally as well as externally: No one is above the law.
Scott Shane and Neil Lewis, , , July 3, 2007; accessed July 3, 2007.
Qtd. by , , CNN News, July 2, 2007 (updated periodically), accessed July 3, 2007
James Rowley, ,
July 3, 2007.
For his full published statement in response to the commutation and the press conference about it by Bush's press spokesman , see , , online posting,
(CREW), July 3, 2007, accessed July 4, 2007; online posting,
(Home page); accessed July 8, 2007
, "Breaking News", , broadcast on , July 3, 2007; accessed July 3, 2007; cf.
Furious Democrats Will Hold Hearings", , July 3, 2007; accessed July 3, 2007.
Furious Democrats Will Hold Hearings", , Washington News, July 3, 2007; accessed July 3, 2007
See also , , July 3, 2007; accessed July 4, 2007
, , July 11, 2007; accessed July 11, 2007
Julie Hirschfeld Davis (), , , July 11, 2007; accessed July 11, 2007
, online posting in Supreme Court Collection, Legal Resource Institute, ; accessed July 4, 2007
Bush Commutes Libby's Sentence, While His Lawyers Come Down Hard On Everyone Else", , July 3, 2007; accessed July 4, 2007
Jeffrey M. Jones (), "Two in Three Say Bush Should Not Have Intervened in Libby Case: Only 13% Say Commuting Sentence Was Right Thing to Do", /, July 10, 2007, accessed July 10, 2007: "The July 6–8 poll finds 66% of Americans saying Bush should not have intervened on Libby's behalf. Only 13% say Bush was 'right to commute Libby's sentence,' while even fewer, 6%, say Bush 'should have gone farther and granted [Libby] a full pardon.' About one in six have no opinion of the matter."
Diedrich, John (April 30, 2008). . .
. CNN 2010.
Scott Shane, , , February 15, 2007; updated with appended correction, February 17, 2007, accessed March 24, 2007).
, , February 20, 2007 – June 28, 2007 (updated periodically), accessed June 30, 2007.
. . . Archived from
Dershowitz, Alan (). . .
, , September 13, 2006, accessed September 25, 2006; includes PDF. Cf.
Against Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, and Scooter Libby for Violations of their Constitutional and Other Legal Rights",
Business Wire (Press Release), July 13, 2006, accessed July 15, 2006; cf. &#160;PDF&#160;(41.8&#160;), rpt. in How Appealing (blog), July 13, 2006, accessed July 15. 2006.
, , , July 19, 2007, accessed July 19, 2007.
, , July 19, 2007, accessed July 19, 2007.
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, in "Valerie Wilson, et al., Plaintiffs, v. I. Lewis Libby, Jr., et al., Defendants", "Civil Action No. 06-1258 (JDB)", , July 19, 2007, accessed July 20, 2007.
Home Page, [July 20, 2007], accessed July 27, 2007. Cf. ,
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(CREW), May 20, 2009, accessed May 22, 2009.
, , June 21, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
(archived February 11, 2005). , February 2005. Accessed July 8, 2007.
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() (Winter 2007). Accessed June 8, 2007.
Why My Friend Scooter Libby Is Loyal to Bush, Cheney and an Arrogant Administration Whose Values Are Not His Own". , January 24, 2007. Accessed June 8, 2007. (P restricted access).
The Secretive Cheney Aide at the Heart of the CIA Leak Case". , October 21, 2005. Accessed June 28, 2007.
. . , March 25, 2007. Accessed March 23, 2008.
. . , , , November 11, 2005. Accessed March 5, 2007. (Transcript and
. Right Web (). Last updated March 21, 2007. Accessed July 1, 2007.
in United States of America vs. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby". , October 28, 2005. Accessed July 5, 2007.
Libby, Lewis. The Apprentice: A Novel. Rpt. ed. 1996; New York: , 2005.
Markels, Alex. . , October 28, 2005. Accessed March 5, 2007.
, moderator. . Transcript.
("Live Online" discussion), March 6, –3:00&#160;p.m., ET. Accessed March 6, 2007. (Duration: one hour.) : "Editor's Note:
moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions
guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
is not responsible for any content posted by third parties."
&#160;PDF&#160;(36.9&#160;) in "". Criminal No. 05-394 (RBW). , filed January 10, 2007. Accessed February 10, 2007. ["USA-v-Libby_Rules-of-Order.pdf".]
Calls 30-month Term for Ex-Cheney Aide 'excessive'". , July 3, 2007. Accessed July 4, 2007.
(archived October 11, 2004). White House biography from 2004. Accessed February 10, 2007.
, February 9, 2006. Accessed March 6, 2007.
–––, ed., with Jeff Lomonaco. The United States v. I. Lewis Libby. New York: Union Square Press (imprint of ), 2007.
(13). ("Edited & with reporting by Murray Waas" and with research assistance by Jeff Lomonaco.)
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. Online posting.
(CREW), July 3, 2007. Accessed July 4, 2007. Online posting.
(Home page), n.d. Accessed July 8, 2007. (Concerning Bush's commutation of Libby's prison sentence.)
(now outdated URL). Press release. Originally posted online.
(CREW), March 6, 2007. Accessed March 6, 2007. Posted as
Citizens ^Blogging for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (blog), March 6, 2007. Accessed April 18, 2007. Also posted as . , March 6, 2007, home page. Accessed April 18, 2007.
at . Accessed July 20, 2007.
compiled by ; incl. interactive timeline in Case History. Updated periodically. Accessed July 10, 2007. (Includes events relating to Lewis Libby's federal trial.)
"I L [sic] Lewis Libby". Listing for "I. Lewis Libby, Jr.", via "For Lawyers & Ethics & Attorney Discipline & Attorney Discipline Database" at the
official searchable website. Accessed April 19, 2008.
. Full audio clip and transcript provided by
on npr.org, February 7, 2007. Accessed February 17, 2007. (8 hours.)
. Archive of articles concerning I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby broadcast on . Updated periodically. Accessed July 10, 2007.
(archived June 27, 2007). Website sponsored by friends and supporters of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, which incorporated links to a brief biography and "News" (P "Legal Filings" and "Statements" relating to Libby' only some links archived). [Prior to Libby's dropping his appeal of his conviction, this site was updated periodically. No longer active at &http://www.& when access attempted on January 9, 2008.]
(Index of news articles pertaining to Libby published in ; incorporates: "The Counts", a summary of the L ,
and multimedia links. Accessed July 10, 2007.
. Photo gallery with news captions at . Accessed July 17, 2007.
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