Scooter Libby Pardoned By Trump For Bush-Era Crimes
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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.
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