Ex-VP Dick Cheney outraged President Bush didn't grant 'Scooter' Libby full pardon

New York Daily News ^ | February 17, 2009 | Thomas M. DeFrank

[Arec Barrwin]

Ex-VP Dick Cheney outraged President Bush didn't grant 'Scooter' Libby full pardon

BY THOMAS M. DEFRANK DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF Updated Tuesday, February 17th 2009, 8:36 AM

WASHINGTON - In the waning days of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade his boss to pardon Lewis (Scooter) Libby - and was furious when President George W. Bush wouldn't budge.

Sources close to Cheney told the Daily News the former vice president repeatedly pressed Bush to pardon Libby, arguing his ex-chief of staff and longtime alter ego deserved a full exoneration - even though Bush had already kept Libby out of jail by commuting his 30-month prison sentence.

"He tried to make it happen right up until the very end," one Cheney associate said.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

I cannot understand why Bush refused to do this.

[madinmadtown]

I heard someone who knows far more than most of us about this situation say exactly what you just said.

[My Favorite Headache]

Agreed. Clinton and Democrats get away with crimes in front of our face all day long. Bush was afraid to do the right thing with people who aren’t even guilty of a crime.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"The unsuccessful full-court press left Cheney bitter."

Vice President Cheney, get in line. There's a lot of us that are mad at Bush. The ones that supported him. Well, Scooter can't vote now and he can't work in the profession he was trained in. I guess he should just become a Democrat and then apply for his Access card. Scooter will have company in the Access card line, Ramos and Compean....

[SharpTalons]

Whoa. are you completely delusional? You attack me for being a troll. I agree with the President on this call. BTW could you please step out of your “us vs. them” bubble and examine the situation on the ground. Frankly speaking the GOP and democratic party are not our friends. Look at the DOW for christ’s sake.

[Buck W.]

As I understand it, Libby didn’t want one.

[Doogle]

DAILY NEWS updated version of old news to keep people “occupied”, instead of talking about the liberal power grab using tax payer money

[bboop]

I cannot stand that NY Daily News site with the pop-ups that never go away.

Cheney is right, and he has the right to go public about this.

[nyconse]

Yeah, Libby should have been pardoned...I don’t think Bush thinks about anyone but himself...hanging a felony conviction around Libby’s neck is wrong...the guy didn’t do anything.

[TCats]

I am not a fan of Cheney but on this point I agree completely. Bush is downright irrational on so many points. Hope he remains invisible. A very, very big disappointment and I voted for him twice.

[nyconse]

I don’t believe it...why would he want a felony conviction?

[Buck W.]

The way I heard it put—if pardoned, he would be unable to win a court victory, as there would no longer be a charge. He wants to win in court.

Is it true? I don’t know!

[Balding_Eagle]

Didn’t Libby lie under Oath? Why I thought the Wilson/plame affair was hyperbole, we can’t absolve Libby’s error. He should have not lied.

Libby is an example why it's best to claim the 5th whenever possible.

[Condor51]

*** Didn’t Libby lie under Oath? ***

Not exactly.
His crime was remembering something different than Tim Russet in front of a Grand Jury and Fed Investigators. And we know that an ex Democratic operative and liberal (cough) journalist would never, ever, 'fib'.

Now, considering that Russet all of a sudden just went and 'suddenly died', maybe God was getting even for Russert 'misremembering'.

[Right Cal Gal]

A pardon halts the appeal process. I believe Libby wants to take this appeal as far as it will go.

[Right Cal Gal]

Or remember three little words: “I can’t recall.”

[FroggyTheGremlim]

I do know that the jury was a bunch of Democrats. The foreman was a friend of Russert’s and Woodward’s.

The whole case was a travesty.

But if Bush would have pardoned Libby, it would have made it appear as if he were really guilty.

Same with Wuterich.

It’s better to have Justice work in the end. I used to believe strongly that in the end Justice works. As I grow older, I’m not so sure...

[nyconse]

This was said about the border guys but no Libby...at least I never heard anyone say this...Cheney would not be ‘furious’ if this is true.

[Right Cal Gal]

IIRC, there was a failure to disclose media connections by one of the jurors, but since I don’t have the hard facts, I’ll leave to fellow Freepers with better memories.

[IMissPresidentReagan]

IIRC, and admittedly I had difficulty mustering enough interest in this whole debacle to understand, I believe the “lie” was something about when he talked to Novak; etc....Under President Bush the media stretched the meaning of the word “lie” to mean anything that one stated, that may turn out to be incorrect later is a lie. So...under the new “definition” of lie...every time the weather doesn't turn out the way the weatherman predicts, the weatherman is a liar. I think Libby's answers may or may not have been correct, but I don't know that they were lies.

JMO.