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Update: President Trump has pardoned I. Lewis Libby Jr., former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. He is better known as "Scooter Libby":
"I don't know Mr. Libby," Trump said in a statement, "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."
President Trump plans to pardon I. Lewis Libby Jr., who as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted of perjury in connection with the leak of a C.I.A. officer's identity, a person familiar with the decision said on Thursday.
Mr. Libby's case has long been a cause for conservatives who maintained that he was a victim of a special prosecutor run amok, an argument that may have resonated with the president. Mr. Trump has repeatedly complained that the special counsel investigation into possible cooperation between his campaign and Russia in 2016 has gone too far and amounts to an unfair "witch hunt."
Mr. Libby, who goes by Scooter, was convicted of four felonies in 2007 for perjury before a grand jury, lying to F.B.I. investigators and obstruction of justice during an investigation into the disclosure of the work of Valerie Plame Wilson, a C.I.A. officer. President George W. Bush commuted Mr. Libby's 30-month prison sentence but refused to grant him a full pardon despite the strenuous requests of Mr. Cheney, a decision that soured the relationship between the two men.
A pardon of Mr. Libby would paradoxically put Mr. Trump in the position of absolving one of the chief architects of the Iraq war, which Mr. Trump has denounced as a catastrophic miscalculation. It would also mean he was forgiving a former official who was convicted in a case involving leaks despite Mr. Trump's repeated inveighing against those who disclose information to reporters.
Critics of Mr. Trump quickly interpreted the prospective pardon as a signal by the president that he would protect those who refuse to turn on their bosses, as Mr. Libby was presumed not to have betrayed Mr. Cheney. Mr. Trump has not ruled out pardons in the Russia investigation.
Is this President Trump's "Chelsea Manning moment"?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bob_super on Friday April 13 2018, @09:14PM (15 children)
Maybe, if Trump ends up pardoning anyone involved in shady stuff in his administration (and family), we could get ammunition to abolish that stupid presidential power, which is an abomination given the alleged separation of the branches of government.
It exists in other presidential regimes too. I can't fathom why constitution writers think it's a good idea.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 13 2018, @09:20PM
The shady pardons come right before a president leaves office.
Assuming 8 years:
1. stuff before the reelection is not too shady -- there are consequences to be had
2. stuff between then and the election of the next president is borderline (the president still seeks to influence that election)
3. stuff after that, in the last few months of a presidency, is really shady
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SpockLogic on Friday April 13 2018, @09:25PM (3 children)
President Bone Spurs is sending a message to Manafort, Cohen et al that they should follow the omerta rule and he will pardon them for their silence even if they are convicted.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stretch611 on Saturday April 14 2018, @12:32AM (1 child)
Cohen will be most likely brought up on state level charges. The president can only pardon federal crimes. i.e. Trump can't pardon Cohen.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 14 2018, @12:59AM
Nor will Pence be able to pardon Trump on state charges.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by black6host on Saturday April 14 2018, @12:36AM
That works only as long as there are no state charges. Trump can't pardon crimes at the state level. And I think folks have wised up and we will see more states' Attorneys General get involved should it appear anyone important is going to escape the noose.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by insanumingenium on Friday April 13 2018, @09:46PM (5 children)
It isn't "an abomination given the alleged separation of the branches ", it is one of the strongest checks and balances that allow that separation to work. If you believe (as Trump claims to) that this conviction wasn't because of any actual wrongdoing, but to unjustly punish a political opponent, this is exactly the reason it exists.
Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on jury nullification? Not an enumerated power, but it serves a very similar cause, admittedly with far more restrictions (only works if there is a trial).
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday April 13 2018, @09:50PM (3 children)
If I had a lot of money - which I don't - I'd run a full page ad in every newspaper in the land specifically for the purpose of informing the public of their right to nullify.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by insanumingenium on Friday April 13 2018, @09:59PM (2 children)
The part I don't understand is how it is an established right, but that it is common in jury instructions to flat out deny it, and to even go so far as to make it against the rules to specifically inform the jury about nullification. Seems like a right you can't talk about isn't a right.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 14 2018, @12:07AM
That's because it isn't a right. It's a power.
A right is something that is acknowledged as such by someone else. A power is something you don't need anyone else's input for.
In the case of nullification, the legal scum will never acknowledge it as a right. But the jury can still vote 'not guilty' -- for reasons of nullification, or any other reason, or no reason at all -- and that is that. No matter what the judge, prosecutor, police, etc. think. (In theory. It's probably a good idea for nullifiers to get out of that jurisdiction as soon as possible, lest your car headlights suddenly stop working, and drugs spontaneously generating in your back seat.)
(Score: 1) by DeVilla on Saturday April 14 2018, @12:33AM
Give that man a cigar and ban him from jury duty!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 14 2018, @12:28AM
This is nothing like jury nullification. Pardoning, as it exists now, has far too much potential for abuse, and means that elites will never see real justice. At the very least, there needs to be some restrictions on who they can pardon. Some person they have no association with? Fine. A corrupt political ally or family member? Not fine. There is too much potential for abuse in those cases.
That's like saying that I should merely lose my job if I murder someone. The reality is that most politicians do far worse damage than murderers. Who needs prison? Look forward, not back.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Entropy on Friday April 13 2018, @10:08PM (1 child)
Oh yeah.. This is much more shady than pardoning terrorists like Lopez Rivera. (Thanks, Obama!)
(Score: 4, Informative) by bob_super on Friday April 13 2018, @10:15PM
Oh, a case of whataboutism !
I should have typed "everyone" instead of "anyone", since the intent was to point out how many pardons may soon be handed to those many loyal servant pleading guilty to Mueller ...
A few shady pardons is tradition (a terrible one, for sure). A lot, including in the inner circle, could be ammo against the unchecked power to let your friends be crooks then take the fall, benefitting any president with questionable ethics.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday April 13 2018, @10:29PM (1 child)
It's not a check. It's a balance of Executive power against the Judiciary. So it does support separation of powers as classically understood in US Politics.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday April 14 2018, @12:24AM
Rock Paper Scissors
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..