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Former President Bill Clinton criticized President Bush on Tuesday for commuting the prison sentence of I. Lewis Libby Jr. and tried to draw a distinction from his own controversial pardons. In Iowa to promote the presidential candidacy of his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Mr. Clinton was asked by a radio host, David Yepsen, “You had some controversial pardons during your presidency; what’s your reaction to what President Bush did?” “Yeah, but I think the facts were different,” Mr. Clinton said. “I think there are guidelines for what happens when somebody is convicted. You’ve got to understand,...

KEOKUK, Iowa - Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton drew a distinction between President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby - which she has harshly criticized - and her husband's 140 pardons in his closing hours in office. "I believe that presidential pardon authority is available to any president, and almost all presidents have exercised it," Clinton said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "This (the Libby decision) was clearly an effort to protect the White House. ... There isn't any doubt now, what we know is that Libby was...

Senator Hillary Clinton of New York issued the following statement on President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby: "Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice." Pardon and Commutation...

"...the case for the pardons was reviewed and advocated not only by my former White House counsel Jack Quinn but also by three distinguished Republican attorneys: Leonard Garment, a former Nixon White House official; William Bradford Reynolds, a former high-ranking official in the Reagan Justice Department; and Lewis Libby, now Vice President Cheney's chief of staff..."

ABC Wonders: Is Libby ‘Above the Law?’; Glosses Over Clinton Pardon Posted by Scott Whitlock on July 3, 2007 - 11:25. On Tuesday’s "Good Morning America," the ABC program featured two segments on President Bush’s commutation of Dick Cheney aide Lewis Libby. Substitute co-host David Muir opened the program by wondering, "This morning, above the law?" and GMA glossed over Bill Clinton's infamous pardon of Marc Rich. Instead, various anchors found time to twice highlight Senator Dick Durbin’s comment that "even Paris Hilton had to go to jail." Although reporter David Kerley's segment did feature a quote from Republican strategist...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence pleased but did not fully satisfy restive conservatives, while enraging his liberal critics. Libby himself can breathe a sigh of relief that he does not have to serve prison time, but hardly anybody else is all that happy.

FReep This Poll! Here is the poll question in full form... Do you agree with President Bush's decision to commute former White House aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's prison term? Yes No Not sure Link over to the North County Times/The Californian homepage. Scroll down a bit and look for the poll on the right hand side. Vote your choice.

President Bush's commutation late yesterday afternoon of the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will at least spare his former aide from 2 1/2 years in prison. But by failing to issue a full pardon, Mr. Bush is evading responsibility for the role his Administration played in letting the Plame affair build into fiasco and, ultimately, this personal tragedy.

MSM Ignores Higher Placed Clinton Officials' Conviction to Tout Libby's Posted by Warner Todd Huston on July 2, 2007 - 23:30. I keep seeing this talking point phrase in multiple MSM stories about the Libby conviction; "Libby was convicted in March, the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair roiled the Reagan administration in the 1980s."(emphasis, mine) This is a misleading statement that makes the reader imagine that no high-ranking Presidential appointee or advisor has been convicted of anything since Reagan's era. But, at least one past official's name should be placed above that of Libby's....

Olbermann: For Commutation in 'Greatest Crime of Century' Bush and Cheney Must Resign Posted by Brad Wilmouth on July 2, 2007 - 21:48. On Monday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann opened his show railing against President Bush, contending that the President "lied us into a war" and "needlessly killed 3,584 of our family and friends and neighbors" as the Countdown host attacked the President for commuting the sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, referring to Libby's involvement in the "greatest crime of this young century." Olbermann later tagged Bush as "Worst Person of the World," and announced that he will call...

CNN: Conservatives Will Be 'Angry' Over Commutation, GOP Double Standard re: Clinton Posted by Brent Baker on July 2, 2007 - 21:44. With “Angry Reaction” on screen, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux opened the 7pm EDT hour of The Situation Room by asking if on the Libby commutation: “Are conservatives as angry as Democrats?” Toward the end of the hour, Malveaux, filling in for Wolf Blitzer, cued up ex-Clinton operative Paul Begala: “President Clinton was impeached for lying before a grand jury. What do you think? What do you make of this? Does this smack of a double standard?” Malveaux announced at...

Most in USA Disagree with Bush Decision to Commute Libby Prison Sentence: 21% of Americans familiar with the legal case involving former White House aide Scooter Libby agree with President Bush's decision to commute Libby's prison sentence, according to a SurveyUSA nationwide poll conducted immediately after the decision was announced. 1,500 Americans were surveyed. Of them, 825 were familiar with the Libby case. Only those familiar were asked to react to the President's action. 17% say Bush should have pardoned Libby completely. 60% say Bush should have left the judge's prison sentence in place. 32% of Republicans agree with the...

It will be fun to see Hillary's response to this. She knows that Bill's pardons especially Mr. Rich and the four Puerto Rican Terrorists are sitting out there. I believe she will keep a low profile on this.

PARDONS: Verla Jean Allen Nicholas M. Altiere Bernice Ruth Altschul Joe Anderson Jr. William Sterling Anderson Mansour Azizkhani Cleveland Victor Babin Jr. Chris Harmon Bagley Scott Lynn Bane Thomas Cleveland Barber Peggy Ann Bargon David Roscoe Blampied William Arthur Borders Jr. Arthur David Borel Douglas Chrles Borel George Thomas Brabham Almon Glenn Braswell Leonard Browder David Steven Brown Delores Caroylene Burleson, aka Delores Cox Burleson John H. Bustamante Mary Louise Campbell Eloida Candelaria Dennis Sobrevinas Capili Donna Denise Chambers Douglas Eugene Chapman Ronald Keith Chapman Francisco Larois Chavez Henry G. Cisneros Roger Clinton Stuart Harris Cohn David Marc Cooper Ernest...

I. Lewis Libby, the former top aide to Dick Cheney who was convicted in March of lying to a Grand Jury and obstructing justice will have to go to jail during his appeal. A three judge federal appellate panel decided that Libby stands little chance of winning an appeal, so he will have to go to jail. Master bloviator Rush Limbaugh, obviously a man who respects the rule of law and the US Constitution, is doing the Texas George two-step in calling for George W. Bush to pardon Libby. Today Limbaugh, who himself escaped jail, then spent a couple of...

Author deals with the possibility .. excerpt of article: ~~~~~~~~~ Explanation of the President's Belief in the Innocence of I. Lewis Libby * * Not a part of the official pardon statement, but an explanation thereof for distribution to the American public via the working media. I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, believe that I. Lewis Libby is not guilty of perjury or of obstruction of justice. In saying this, I do not say that the jury necessarily erred on the basis of the evidence presented to it, nor do I say that the judge...

These are the saddest of times and the worst of times for George W. Bush. His war in Iraq continues to truck south, to join the immigration "reform" legislation that took up residence at the South Pole some time ago, and now his remaining friends are urging him to be the stand-up guy Texans are always telling us they are. Not even the iron fence of secrecy and security surrounding the White House can resist the pressure building on the president to stand up to pardon Scooter Libby, soon to be sentenced to 24 months in prison for lying about...

White House loyalists have begun arguing that clemency for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby -- either a pardon or a commuted sentence -- would be a way for an embattled President Bush to reassert himself, particularly among conservatives. The White House has not ruled out a pardon for Libby, sources say. But several Republicans, who sense a movement in Libby’s favor, said a more likely possibility might be a presidential commutation -- a reduction or elimination of Libby's 2½-year federal prison sentence. Such a move, they said, would be less divisive for the country. A well-connected Republican whose views have reached...

Just as White House loyalists had begun arguing that clemency for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby -- either a pardon or a commuted sentence -- would be a way for an embattled President Bush to reassert himself, particularly among conservatives, Paris Hilton has volunteered to serve Libby's sentence. "I am just getting what I deserve," said the born-again hotel heiress, "but Scooter has done nothing wrong! And, if he did, he should not serve any more time than Bill CLinton did for perjury!" Several Republicans said that it would be a good move for both Bush's and Hilton's sagging poll numbers.