He may already have a get-out-of-jail-free card in hand, but Scooter Libby has been trying to overturn his felony convictions anyway. Something about trying to clear his “good name,” as if that were still a possibility.
This morning, Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff gave up and ended his legal ordeal.
Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby is no longer appealing his conviction in the CIA leak case, a tacit recognition that continuing his legal fight might only make things worse.
Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction but President Bush commuted his 30-month prison sentence in July. Had Libby won a new trial, that commutation would be meaningless and Libby would again face potential prison time.
“We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby’s innocence,” attorney Theodore Wells said Monday. “However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear.”
That’s what attorneys are paid to say, of course, but the reality is Libby didn’t have much of an incentive to keep this charade going. The appeals process would cost him a fortune in legal fees, his chances of success were exceedingly small, the Republican establishment doesn’t seem to mind the fact that he’s a convicted felon, and the president has already shielded him from jail time.
Indeed, Libby actually faced a risk by appealing this conviction and seeking a new trial — if successful, he could get convicted again … under a Democratic president.
As for the politics of today’s announcement, if Libby’s done appealing, then the White House should be done stonewalling.
At various points in recent years, the Bush gang has used the legal proceedings to avoid responding to questions about this scandal.
Before Libby was charged, White House officials said, “We’d love to talk about leaking the name of a covert CIA official during a time of war to spite her husband, but darn it, there’s an ongoing criminal investigation. Check back later.”
After Libby was charged, those same officials said, “Well, sure, it’d be great if we could talk about all of this, but there’s an ongoing trial, and White House officials might be called as witnesses. Check back later.”
After Libby was convicted and his sentence was commuted, they said, “Of course, we’d like nothing more than to answer questions, but there’s still a civil suit pending in the courts.”
After the civil suit was thrown out of court, the Bush gang said, “Golly gee, we’re almost there, but we still can’t answer questions because Libby’s criminal conviction is still under appeal.”
And now, they are out of excuses. Libby’s case is done. Patrick Fitzgerald is done. The civil suit is done. Indeed, Paul Kiel dug up a White House press briefing from July at which point the president’s spokesperson said the president and his aides would “deal with” questions after the appeals process was complete.
Q: Tony, one point that is not in dispute is that Karl Rove was involved in the leak, in some way he was involved. He talked to at least two reporters who ended up publishing this information. In 2004, the President said — he didn’t talk about convictions or anything — he said he would fire anyone in this White House who was involved in the leak. We now know Karl Rove was involved; he did not fire him.
SNOW: There are two things to note. We have also said that we do not — we are not going to make comments in detail until the legal process is over. And it is not; there is still an appeal through…. I believe that the Libby team, at this point, still has before the court an appeal. […]
Q How does this square with the President saying, anybody who leaks in my White House, anybody who doesn’t follow the law, is not going to work for me?
SNOW: Well, once we get — once we get final determination on that, we’ll deal with it.
We have “final determination” as of today. I don’t know whether the White House press corps is still prepared to push for an explanation of what transpired inside the West Wing, but as of this afternoon, the Bush gang is officially out of excuses for years of stonewalling.