Problem With Pardoning Libby: Bush would have to flout DOJ guidelines

[MagickMuffin]

I didn't see this posted anywhere.

We can hope, although I'm not gonna hold my breath.

The Problem With Pardoning Libby By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball
President Bush may well pardon Scooter Libby. But he’d have to flout Justice Department guidelines in order to do it.


March 7, 2007 - The pardon campaign began almost immediately. No sooner had word come down in federal court that I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby had been convicted on four felony counts than conservative allies began pressuring President Bush to step in and effectively overturn the verdict. The National Review Online was first off the block, publishing a “Pardon Libby” editorial barely two hours after the verdict was announced; the piece denounced the entire CIA-leak case as a “travesty” and the product of “media scandal-mongering.” The Wall Street Journal followed suit Wednesday, saying Bush shouldn’t even wait for Libby to file his appeal. “The time for a pardon is now,” the Journal declared. (The Web site of the Libby Defense Trust, www.scooterlibby.com, linked to those and other editorials calling for a pardon Wednesday.)

But there’s one significant roadblock on the path to Libby’s salvation: Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff does not qualify to even be considered for a presidential pardon under Justice Department guidelines.

From the day he took office, Bush seems to have followed those guidelines religiously. He's taken an exceedingly stingy approach to pardons, granting only 113 in six years, mostly for relatively minor fraud, embezzlement and drug cases dating back more than two decades. Bush’s pardons are “fewer than any president in 100 years,” according to Margaret Love, former pardon attorney at the Justice Department.

Following the furor over President Bill Clinton’s last-minute pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich (among others), Bush made it clear he wasn’t interested in granting many pardons. “We were basically told that there weren’t going to be pardons—or if there were, there would be very few,” recalls one former White House lawyer who asked not to be identified talking about internal matters.

More @ link
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17507199/site/newsweek/

[BlooInBloo]

1. Um, aren't the DOJ Guidelines whatever the President says they are? (more or less)

EDIT: I mean, it's an executive agency.

[MagickMuffin]

2. He can do what he wants

after all he IS the DECIDER....

[BlooInBloo]

4. So he wouldn't have to flout them.

[MagickMuffin]

6. No No Not at All

Maybe Laura could bake a cake for the occasion.

This MisAdministration loves Flouting. It has been one of their trademarks. It used to surprise me, then it amused me and now well it is predictable how open they are about some of the crimes they are involved in.

[WinstonSmith4740]

3. Where have Isakoff & Hosenball been for 6 years?

Since when did King George think he was restricted by any laws, much less "guidelines"?

[MagickMuffin]

5. I can't say I know they know that, but they should

and I think they were just pointing out that Mad king Boy George has been sticking to the guidelines up until now. I guess we have a couple of years to find out what the little Mad king will do.

My bet is on a pardon...

[global1]

7. If Rove Is Always A Couple Of Steps Ahead Of Everybody - Try This On For Size.....

Rove: Ok George - here's what we're gonna do. During your first 6 - 7 years as pResident your going to be stingy on pardons. We're going to paint you this way George - you're upset with the Clinton pardons at the end of his presidency - so you're going to be hard on pardons. We're going to do this so we can say - you're a tough guy. But with all the laws we're going to break during this time - invariably some of our guys are going to get into trouble - so you're going to need to pardon them. In the long run though - in history - you're going to look better than most presidents because we can say overall you pardoned less people than other presidents - especially Clinton.

George: Doh - Ok!!!