Bush declines to rule out full pardon for Libby

WASHINGTON – President Bush on Tuesday left open the possibility of an eventual pardon for former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.\n“As to the future, I rule nothing in and nothing out,” the president said a day after commuting Libby’s 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case.\nBush said he had weighed his decision carefully to erase Libby’s prison time for lying and conspiracy. He said the jury’s conviction should stand but the prison term was too severe.\n“I made a judgment, a considered judgment, that I believe was the right decision to make in this case,” the president said. “And I stand by it.”\nBush spoke to reporters after visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. His decision on Libby was roundly criticized by Democrats; Republicans were more subdued, with some welcoming the decision but others saying he should have gone further.\nEarlier on Tuesday, chief Bush spokesman Tony Snow said Bush was satisfied with his decision to commute Libby’s sentence.\n“He thought any jail time was excessive. He did not see fit to have Scooter Libby taken to jail,” Snow said.\nThe spokesman told reporters at a White House briefing that, even with Bush’s decision, Libby has a felony conviction on his record, two years probation, a $250,000 fine and probable end to his legal career. \n“So this is hardly a slap on the wrist,” Snow said. “It is a very severe penalty.”\nWhile Democrats criticized the president, Snow said Bush was “getting pounded on the right for not granting a full pardon.”\nU.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who sentenced Libby to prison, declined Tuesday to discuss the case or his views on sentencing. \n“To now say anything about sentencing on the heels of yesterday’s events will inevitably be construed as comments on the president’s commutation decision, which would be inappropriate,” the judge said in an e-mail.\nWith prison seeming all but certain for Libby, Bush on Monday suddenly spared Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff. His move came just five hours after a federal appeals court panel ruled that Libby could not delay his prison term. The Bureau of Prisons had already assigned Libby a prison identification number.\nAsked whether Cheney, who calls Libby a friend, pressed for Bush to commute Libby’s sentence, Snow said, “I don’t have direct knowledge. But on the other hand, the president did consult with most senior officials, and I’m sure that everybody had an opportunity to share their views.”\n“I’m sure that the vice president may have expressed an opinion. ... He may have recused himself. I honestly don’t know,” Snow said.\nHowever, the president made the decision without seeking any advice from the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Justice Department, the White House previously said.\nSnow defended Bush’s decision to not follow the usual course of running the matter past the Justice Department, saying details of the case were still fresh in everyone’s mind, and that the president did not need to be brought up to date on details.