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Bush refuses to rule out full pardon for Libby

The White House on Tuesday dismissed a storm of political outrage over US President George W. Bush's decision to spare former top aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a two-and-a-half-year jail term.

Bush insisted he had made the right decision and refused to rule out an eventual full pardon for Libby, a day after commuting the sentence handed down after a trial bound up in the drive to the invasion of Iraq.

As well as flak from Democrats, Bush faced the ire of conservatives angry that he had not wiped off the conviction entirely for Libby, once a trusted former member of US Vice President Dick Cheney's inner circle.

"I thought that the jury verdict should stand, I felt that the punishment was severe," Bush told reporters on Tuesday.

"As to the future, I, you know, rule nothing in or nothing out," Bush said when asked whether Libby could ever benefit from a full presidential pardon.

White House spokesman Tony Snow rejected claims Libby was getting off lightly, after he was convicted of obstructing an investigation into the outing of CIA spy Valerie Plame, wife of a harsh critic of the administration over Iraq.

PENALTY

"This is hardly a slap on the wrist, in terms of penalty. It is a very severe penalty," said Snow, noting Libby still faced a US$250,000 fine, two years of probation and was also saddled with a felony conviction.

"The president also believes, for those who are arguing on behalf of a pardon, that you need to respect the jury system. Scooter Libby was tried before a jury of his peers," Snow said.

Democrats kept up the heat on the White House on Tuesday, seeking to get some political advantage from Bush's move.

RESPONSE

"I'm outraged," Representative Chuck Schumer told supporters in an e-mail.

"President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's prison sentence, wiping away two-and-half-years of jail time with the stroke of a pen," he wrote. "We expect more from our president. We expect honor and integrity, we expect moral leadership," Schumer wrote.

The Wall Street Journal warned that Bush had evaded responsibility on the Libby case -- by not granting a full pardon.

"Mr Libby deserved better from a president whose policies he tried to defend when others were running for cover," the paper said.

Snow interpreted the fact that Bush was also being "pounded from the right" as proof his move was not made for shallow political gain.

Bush critics claim Libby was part of a White House effort to punish former US ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was sent by the CIA to Niger in February 2002 to investigate claims that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had tried to buy uranium for nuclear bombs.

Wilson later criticized the administration's rationale for the Iraq War and a probe was launched into whether top Bush aides deliberately blew Plame's cover as revenge for the criticism.

Democrats reacted swiftly on Monday to news of Bush's move.

"The president's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the ... American people," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

New York Senator and 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said the Bush administration "simply considers itself above the law ... [The] administration has no regard whatsoever for what needs to be held sacred."

Also see story:
For President Bush, Libby decision was a test of political will

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