Libby

Republicans now face a major test of their principles, said E.J. Dionne in The Washington Post. For years they've claimed to revere 'œthe rule of law,' insisting, for example, that President Clinton be impeached because he lied to a special prosecutor about a consensual sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky. Now that I. Lewis 'œScooter' Libby is facing hard time, we'll see if they really mean it. Libby, who was Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, has been fined $250,000 and sentenced to 30 months in jail for trying to cover up the White House's role in leaking CIA agent Valerie Plame's name. Libby was among the Iraq war's chief defenders, and the scores of figures now urging President Bush to pardon him include some of that conflict's leading hawks. They don't care that Libby committed perjury and obstruction of justice; they care only that he was on their side, and that his jail sentence represents a victory for Democrats, liberals, and anti-war activists.

Actually, it represents nothing but a terrible injustice, said William Kristol in The Weekly Standard. Compare Libby's sentence to the punishment meted out to Sandy Berger, the national security advisor to Bill Clinton, who stole and destroyed important documents from the National Archives. Berger got a mere $50,000 fine, and no prison time. In Libby's case, federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald never even proved an underlying crime behind the disclosure of Plame's identity, and it was former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, not Libby, who first revealed it. Libby's sentence was 'œunfair and vindictive,' and the only reason for Bush not to pardon him would be his desire 'œto separate himself from someone who has gotten into trouble.' That would be 'œselfish' of the president, as well as 'œdishonorable.'

Unfortunately for Libby, Bush is 'œamong the stingiest' pardoners in presidential history,' said Jim Rutenberg in The New York Times. Besides, with his job approval rating hovering around 30 percent, Bush can't risk any additional ill will by pardoning Libby. There is another option, said former federal prosecutor William Otis in The Washington Post. Rather than nullify the jury's finding, Bush could keep Libby's conviction and sizable fine intact, but commute his sentence. Libby, a father and loyal public servant, would go home with the lifelong stigma of being a convicted felon. This 'œmiddle ground' solution would prove that our nation insists on truthful testimony from public officials, but is also capable of meting out justice that is proportionate to the crime.

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