Yeah =P My Uncle ran upstairs and told me about that. Not really sure what to say about that. Can't he get in trouble for something like that?
The president? Apparently he can do whatever the hell he wants. He is the Decider after all. But pardoning federal criminals is part of their Constitutional powers. I doubt he actually knew that, just got lucky. Haha.
The President has the right to pardon Libby of everything. He chose to keep the fine and the probation in place. This was an attempt to keep Libby Supporters happy, who believe that Libby was hounded by four grand jury trials over possibly trumped up charges until he made a mistake in his testamony and perjured himself. But the deal was also meant to keep the anti-Libby crowd, who believe Libby purposefully lied and only broke from his script after serious questioning, somewhat mollified by not pardoning Libby of the 250,000 dollar fine, and probation. It's not a good compromise, and it would have been better if the courts had agreed to let Libby remain free until the appeal process had gone through (Libby still would have gone to jail if the appeal failed, so he wouldn't be getting off.). But it's not a deal with the devil, or the complete repudiation of the justice system, some people think it is.
It all depends on the judge, sometimes the jury and and even the audience: A former national security advisor can get caught stealing highly classified documents (stuffing them down his pants before walking out of the national archives) and destroying them. Avoids jail time and all in lieu of community service and $50,000 fine. CNN.com - Sandy Berger fined $50,000 for taking documents - Sep 8, 2005 A former treasury cheif of staff, when confronted under oath with his own journal, basically tells the investigating committee that he lied to his diary. http://www.cnn.com/interactive/allpolitics/9904/whitewater.cast/steiner.html It comes from both Republican and Democratic sides of the aisle. Scooter Libbee was caught in a political struggle, left to be the fall guy (the real targets were apparently the VP and maybe Rove). The prosecutor knew for months who actually leaked about the spy, and as it turns out, she never was undercover and there really was no crime in divulging her name. A purgery trap was set to catch someone. None of the others who were proven to have faulty memories in the case were prosecuted, including reporters under cross examination. Politics is a pretty partisan and cut-throat endeavor, where it seems the criminals are never actually punished (okay, maybe rarely). Wonder of the Democratic Representative (Willam Jefferson) who was found with $90,000 of money hidden in his freezer (which he got from a from an agent in a bribery probe--and was reelected and recommended by Speaker Pelosi for important chairmanships even after the money was found) CNN.com - Affidavit: $90,000 found in congressman's freezer - May 22, 2006 will get as much time as Republican Randy Cunningham CNN.com - Congressman resigns after bribery plea - Nov 28, 2005 or Congressman James Traficant James Traficant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Guess one never knows. Terry
