Scooter Libby Pardoned By Trump For Bush-Era Crimes
Image by Getty Images
President Trump has pardoned former George W. Bush administration official Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was convicted of lying in an investigation of the unmasking of a CIA agent, a source said on Friday, in a step that would underscore Trump’s willingness to grant pardons in high-profile cases.
Conservatives have been pushing for a pardon for Libby, who is Jewish, for years after former Vice President Dick Cheney was unable to persuade Bush to do it late in his presidency. Bush did, however, commute Libby’s 2 1/2-year prison sentence.
Libby, a top aide to Cheney during the run-up and early years of the Iraq war, was found guilty in 2007 of lying and obstructing an investigation into who blew the cover of a CIA officer, Valerie Plame, whose husband, former diplomat Joe Wilson, had criticized the Iraq war.
Libby could not immediately be reached for comment.
If Libby is pardoned, it would be the second high-profile pardon of Trump’s tenure. Last year, he pardoned Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona sheriff who had campaigned for Trump, less than a month after he was convicted of criminal contempt in a case involving racial profiling.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
