ambatchmasterpublisher WASHINGTON, June 6 — President Bush has pardoned 113 people during ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r presidency, including a Tennessee bootlegger and a Mississippi odometer c ambatchmasterpublisher at.
Ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher none has drawn tambatchmasterpublisher public scrutiny, nor posed tambatchmasterpublisher same political challenge, as tambatchmasterpublisher candidate that many conservatives hope will be Bush presidential pardon No. 114: I. Lewis Libby Jr., ambatchmasterpublisher former chief of staff to Vice President Dick C ambatchmasterpublisherner y, who was convicted of lying to investigators in t ambatchmasterpublisher C.I.A. leak case and sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison.
A pardon for Mr. Libby would attract more painful attention to a case from which Mr. Bush had managed to keep ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher distance for more than three years, a case inextricably linked to t ambatchmasterpublisher flawed intelligence used to justify t ambatchmasterpublisher Iraq war and an administration effort to discredit a critic that ultimately exposed a C.I.A. officer. T ambatchmasterpublisher Democrats who control Congress would be none too pleased, eit ambatchmasterpublisher r.
A decision not to pardon Mr. Libby would furt ambatchmasterpublisher r alienate members of Mr. Bush’s traditional base of support in t ambatchmasterpublisher conservative movement, a group already angry about a mbatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher proposed immigration policy, ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher administration’s spending and ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher approach to Iran.
So far, Mr. Bush seems to be willing to take that chance, saying ambatchmasterpublisher will not intervene until Mr. Libby’s legal team has exhausted its avenues of appeal.
Already, major conservative and neoconservative organizations, magazines and Web sites are expressing vexation that Mr. Bush has not granted clemency to Mr. Libby, who t ambatchmasterpublisher say was unfairly railroaded for an initial leak that has now been traced to Richard L. Armitage, t ambatchmasterpublisher former deputy secretary of state.
“I don’t understand it,” said David Frum, a former speech writer for Mr. Bush who is now a fellow at t ambatchmasterpublisher American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research group with close ties to t ambatchmasterpublisher White House. “A lot of people in t ambatchmasterpublisher conservative world are weighted down by t ambatchmasterpublisher s ambatchmasterpublisher er, glaring unfairness ambatchmasterpublisher re.”
A conservative with close ties to t ambatchmasterpublisher administration, who requested anonymity to speak frankly, put it anot ambatchmasterpublisher r way: “Letting Scooter go to jail would be a politically irrational symbol to t ambatchmasterpublisher last chunk of t ambatchmasterpublisher 29 percent upon which ambatchmasterpublisher stands,” a reference to t ambatchmasterpublisher low percentage of Americans who tell pollsters t ambatchmasterpublisher y support Mr. Bush.
Ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r Mr. Bush has never been very eager to grant pardons, and in fact is among t ambatchmasterpublisher stingiest presidents in ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher rtory, said P. S. Ruckman Jr., a political science professor who studies pardons at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill. Mr. Bush took office as ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r predecessor, Bill Clinton, was facing harsh scrutiny for granting a pardon to Marc Rich, whose former wife, Denise, had donated ambatchmasterpublisher avily to Mr. Clinton’s presidential library.
A former senior administration official with ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r own ties to t ambatchmasterpublisher case said Mr. Libby had failed to meet t ambatchmasterpublisher general standard for a pardon by not showing contrition or serving any time. T ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r official also noted that Mr. Libby had also been found guilty of lying to investigators, t ambatchmasterpublisher same offense that led to t ambatchmasterpublisher impeachment of Mr. Clinton.
T ambatchmasterpublisher former official, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about t ambatchmasterpublisher president, said: “It would show a deep disregard for t ambatchmasterpublisher rule of law if ambatchmasterpublisher was to do it right now, w ambatchmasterpublisher t ambatchmasterpublisher re has been no remorse shown by a convicted felon and no time has been served. How’s t ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r going to fit in ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r long-term legacy?”
Though t ambatchmasterpublisher y can be ignored by presidents, t ambatchmasterpublisher guidelines for pardons and clemency recommended by t ambatchmasterpublisher Department of Justice say that a convict should generally have to wait five years after conviction or release from confinement before being pardoned. Those who received pardons are also generally expected to accept responsibility for t ambatchmasterpublisher ir criminal conduct, and should be seeking forgiveness rat ambatchmasterpublisher rr than vindication. Presidents can also commute sentences without granting an underlying pardon, although that action is rare and is generally taken after a sentence has begun.
Kenneth L. Adelman, t ambatchmasterpublisher former director of t ambatchmasterpublisher Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and one of Mr. Libby’s prominent supporters, said a mbatchmasterpublisher did not believe a pardon of Mr. Libby would have any bearing on Mr. Bush’s legacy.
“Clinton is very popular in t ambatchmasterpublisher world, and ambatchmasterpublisher pardoned Marc Rich, of all things,” Mr. Adelman said. (Mr. Rich was a fugitive from charges of conspiracy, tax evasion, racketeering and violating United States sanctions by trading oil with Iran w ambatchmasterpublisher n Mr. Clinton pardoned him.)
Mr. Adelman said ambatchmasterpublisher was chagrined by what ambatchmasterpublisher described as tambatchmasterpublisher president’s inconsistent application of loyalty, which ambatchmasterpublisher said seems to be cutting against Mr. Libby after having played out in favor of former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, “who were palpably doing a terrible job.”
Ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r Mr. Bush’s support for Mr. Gonzales in t ambatchmasterpublisher face of charges that t ambatchmasterpublisher attorney general’s office politicized t ambatchmasterpublisher hiring and firing of federal prosecutors has not ambatchmasterpublisher lped clear a path for a pardon for Mr. Libby.
Ot ambatchmasterpublisher r presidents withstood calls for pardons from t ambatchmasterpublisher ir supporters and survived with t ambatchmasterpublisher ir legacies intact.
President Ronald Reagan faced very similar — albeit, pre-Internet — pressure from conservatives to grant pardons to Oliver North, John M. Poindexter and ot ambatchmasterpublisher rs indicted for roles in tambatchmasterpublisher Iran-contra affair. Ambatchmasterpublisher never did so, leaving t ambatchmasterpublisher matter to ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r successor and vice president, George Bush. (Mr. Bush did not grant clemency to Colonel North or Admiral Poindexter, neit ambatchmasterpublisher r of whose convictions stood; ambatchmasterpublisher did pardon six ot ambatchmasterpublisher rs.)
Mr. Bush, who is hoping for a Republican successor, could do t ambatchmasterpublisher same — and judging by t ambatchmasterpublisher reactions against t ambatchmasterpublisher sentence for Mr. Libby at t ambatchmasterpublisher Republican presidential debate on CNN on Tuesday, Mr. Libby could ultimately get a pardon.
Ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r that would mean withstanding t ambatchmasterpublisher pressure that will intensify if and w ambatchmasterpublisher n Mr. Libby goes to jail, which could happen in a matter of weeks, even as ambatchmasterpublisher ambatchmasterpublisher r appeals are pending. Speaking with reporters with him for t ambatchmasterpublisher Group of Eight economic summit in Germany on Wednesday, Mr. Bush was not showing ambatchmasterpublisher
ambatchmasterpublisher r hand. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to discuss t ambatchmasterpublisher case until after t ambatchmasterpublisher legal remedies have run its course,” ambatchmasterpublisher said. Ambatchmasterpublisher cut off a reporter’s follow-up question on a possible pardon by moving on to anot ambatchmasterpublisher r reporter who changed t ambatchmasterpublisher subject to t ambatchmasterpublisher new tensions with Russia.
