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Appeals Court Rejects Libby’s Appeal To Stay On Bail While Appealing Sentence

The Appeals Court has refused Scooter Libby’s request to remain free on bail while appealing his conviction.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal appeals court Monday rejected former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s request to remain free on appeal after his March conviction on federal charges stemming from the leak of a CIA agent’s identity.

Libby, once Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, faces a 30-month prison term after being convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal agents probing the 2003 exposure of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, whose husband had become a critic of the war in Iraq.

A three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals found Libby has not raised a question for judges “that is ‘close’ or that ‘could very well be decided the other way’” — the standard for remaining free on appeal.

Barring further appeals, Libby’s term will start when the U.S. Bureau of Prisons decides where he will serve his time and sets a date for him to surrender. But his lawyers may appeal Monday’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which rarely intervenes in these kinds of cases.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees the D.C. circuit, would decide whether to send any emergency petition to the full court.

It’s time now for President Bush to get involved in the Scooter Libby legal mess.

He needs to either pardon him outright or commute the jail sentence and let him appeal the rest of the conviction.

Non-violent offenders do not deserve jail time.

Major Update President Bush has commuted I. Lewis Libby’s sentence.

HT: Drudgereport

The Presidents statement can be found here.

Official Grant of Executive Clemency.

Written by ~J~

13 Responses to “Appeals Court Rejects Libby’s Appeal To Stay On Bail While Appealing Sentence”

  1. Big Mo Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 3:31 pm
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    Agreed. This whole thing has been asinine from start to finish.

  2. Sue Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 4:37 pm
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    I am utterly disgusted in this decision.

    It would have meant these judges would have had to go against their own reasoning for jailing Judy Miller though and I saw very little chance of that.

    I believe if the President does not take action on this he will lose another large part of his base which has stuck with him through most everything else.

  3. Sue Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 6:26 pm
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    It sure did not take the President long. Thanks Mr. President for saving a man from prison for a crime which many of us believe never should have been prosecuted in the first place.

    I hope Richard Armitage someday understands the havoc he laid on this administration and Mr. Libby. As for Mr. Fitzgerald, well that’s for another day.

  4. ~J~ Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 6:58 pm
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    All I can say is I called the White House comment line today with this exact recommendation. I’m glad he listened to me. =))=))=))8-}

  5. Sue Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 7:20 pm
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    There are some who feel a pardon would have been the answer and to them I say, perhaps Mr. Libby, while it would not be necessary, may want to continue with the appeals process to attempt having the entire verdit thrown out.

    Good job J..you should call on every hot button issue!:)

  6. ~J~ Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 8:18 pm
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    If you go over to CNN and read the political comments they are from Schumer and Democratic presidential candidates. Guess what they’re saying? I thought it would have a mix of reactions but I thought wrong.

    Wilson is steamed. I’ve heard of families of murdered people who have less venom than this. The guy still has to pay a quarter of a million dollars in fines and still has to serve 2 years’ probation.

    It seems to me someone else was convicted of perjury and got a fine and loss of law license for awhile and cannot practice before the Supreme Court.

    I just thought the punishment didn’t fit the crime if there was a crime. Why did Fitzgerald continue the investigation when he knew before he started who the leaker was and why didn’t he indict the leaker if, as the candidates are saying, it’s a national security issue?

    And before we get into an argument, lying under oath about anything is perjury. It doesn’t matter if it was about stealing a penny or sex. You don’t lie to a court or the representatives of the court.

  7. Sue Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
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    The question has always remained out there on whether Libby lied or simply forgot certain details while being questioned for hours in front of a Grand Jury without the opportunity to reviews notes or pertinent information.

    Because the Grand Jury testimony will remain sealed we will never know, but it became clear, at least to me that Mr. Fitzgerald was going to nail someone in this administration one way or the other.

    And no, two wrongs don’t make a right but how former President Clinton was treated vs. Libby shows how the justice system is manipulated by power and party. One just has to look at Sandy Burger to see the glaring differences.

    I thought the Presidents statement on this issue was perfect today and leaves room for a pardon if he chooses to award one after the appeals process is complete.

    As for those screaming the loudest today, they should think of those they have protected through words and deeds and not cast stones. Maybe tomorrow they will open another investigation into the Presidents right to commute this sentence.

  8. Big Mo Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 9:41 pm
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    All I can say is, GOOD!

  9. Ayschlay Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 10:48 pm
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    I’m mystified by your anger with this whole Libby thing. It reminds me of the OJ thing, where tempers ran so hot (though I didn’t give a fig one way or the other).

    You’re all so sure that you’re right that Libby has been wronged (and that the public has not been wronged by his felonious perjury). Where do you get your confidence?

  10. Sue Says:

    July 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 pm
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    It is not anger Ayschlay it is that Patrick Fitzgerald was charged with finding the leaker in the Plame case, which he did long before going after Libby.

    In the Presidents statement today he says:
    “Furthermore, the critics point out that neither Mr. Libby nor anyone else has been charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, which were the original subjects of the investigation.”

    Now if you have a prosecutor who does not report to anyone (he had no supervision on this case therefore answered only to himself), who recognizes that the case will fall apart when he cannot charge under the IIPA yet continues to fish for anything he can prosecute I consider that going beyone the scope of his original charge. The Justice Department should have reigned him in and they are as much to blame for this as Patrick Fitzgerald. Let us not forget that Libby also defeated Fitzgerald in court on an important case when he was in the private sector.

    This began with a fishy appointment by Comey after a push from Chuck Schumer which provided Fitzpatrick with the power of the Attorney General. Every attorney I have read has found that remarkable as SP’s generally operate under the supervision of the AG.

    So it is not anger, it is however, many unanswered questions when it comes to this entire debacle..perhaps we will see some answers if the Wilson civil suit actually makes it to court.

    I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t see the anger like there was in the OJ trial. Like comparing apples and oranges to me.

  11. ~J~ Says:

    July 3rd, 2007 at 6:15 am
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    I’m not angry as I thought this was the fair thing to do so Libby can pursue his appeal if he wishes.

    I thought the punishment didn’t fit the crime with the jail sentence, probation, and fine. This didn’t happen to another well-placed person who was found guilty of perjury, and nothing happened to Sandy Berger except a fine and some community service.

    If you want to see anger go to the extreme right sites and you’ll see anger that he didn’t get a full pardon.

    This way he is still found guilty and unless his appeal doesn’t work he will continue to be guilty.

    I always thought the jail sentence was too much, especially after the probation dept’s recommendation was a lighter sentence in jail and the judge rejected it.

  12. Ayschlay Says:

    July 3rd, 2007 at 6:24 am
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    I was thinking of a similarity in terms of polarization–one set of people so sure of his guilt, another so sure that he’d been set up, but, yes, I suppose the OJ comparison is a stretch.

  13. Ayschlay Says:

    July 3rd, 2007 at 7:17 am
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    Slate has a handy roundup of news and commentary on the commutation (from traditional sources). Go here.