President Donald Trump pardoned Lewis “Scooter” Libby on Friday, the aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements in connection with the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.
Read Donald Trump’s statement on Scooter Libby’s pardon
“I don’t know Mr. Libby,” Trump said Friday, “but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly.”
Jen Kirby is a senior foreign and national security reporter at Vox, where she covers global instability.
Libby was indicted in the course of a special counsel investigation into the Plame affair. George W. Bush commuted his sentence, but Trump has gone a step further.
“I don’t know Mr. Libby,” Trump said Friday, “but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.”
Trump has issued only two other pardons so far in his tenure, including one for controversial Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Read Trump’s full statement on the pardon of Libby below:
Today, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Grant of Clemency (Full Pardon) to I. “Scooter” Lewis Libby, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Richard Cheney, for convictions stemming from a 2007 trial. President George W. Bush commuted Mr. Libby’s sentence shortly after his conviction. Mr. Libby, nevertheless, paid a $250,000 fine, performed 400 hours of community service, and served two years of probation.
In 2015, one of the key witnesses against Mr. Libby recanted her testimony, stating publicly that she believes the prosecutor withheld relevant information from her during interviews that would have altered significantly what she said. The next year, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated Mr. Libby to the bar, reauthorizing him to practice law. The Court agreed with the District of Columbia Disciplinary Counsel, who stated that Mr. Libby had presented “credible evidence” in support of his innocence, including evidence that a key prosecution witness had “changed her recollection of the events in question.”
Before his conviction, Mr. Libby had rendered more than a decade of honorable service to the Nation as a public servant at the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the White House. His record since his conviction is similarly unblemished, and he continues to be held in high regard by his colleagues and peers.
In light of these facts, the President believes Mr. Libby is fully worthy of this pardon. “I don’t know Mr. Libby,” said President Trump, “but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.”
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