Another view and the people that made it happen.

The men behind The Man Behind Dick Cheney are relieved.

They are people of means and influence, ambassadors and honorables, and they’ve raised millions to pay for the legal expenses of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Yesterday evening they learned, along with the rest of us, that the president has commuted Libby’s 30-month sentence and the vice president’s former chief of staff won’t be going to jail for lying.

Former ambassador to Italy and developer Mel Sembler was returning from a fundraiser, and his chartered flight had just touched down in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“I got off the airplane and picked up my telephone and turned it back on again and found about 12 phone messages,” said Sembler, the chairman of the Libby Legal Defense Trust. “I was most pleased with my president.”

Richard Carlson, former ambassador to the Seychelles, was standing near his wife when he heard the news from an Associated Press reporter.

“My wife burst into tears,” Carlson said.

As a certain wealthy blond socialite recently learned, no amount of money can guarantee a Get Out of Jail Free card. But — and this is a big but– if one’s prison sentence should suddenly be commuted by the nation’s highest elected official, a large pile of money still comes in handy. Because jail or no jail, one has to pay one’s lawyers.

Enter: friends in high places. Through personal contributions, fundraising efforts and direct mail, the 29 men and two women of Libby’s legal defense trust have raised close to $5 million, according to Sembler and Carlson. They plan to continue raising money; both believe Libby’s legal fees amount to more than the money in hand. And if he continues to appeal his conviction, the bill will rise.

The advisory committee of Libby’s trust is made up of developers, investors, publishers, think-tankers. There’s former senator Fred Thompson, the “Law & Order” star and Republican presidential aspirant — who even held a fundraiser for Libby at his McLean home, according to Carlson.

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