It's now OK to lie to grand juries.

[wordsmythe]

Bush commutes Libby's prison sentence - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Monday spared I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from prison, commuting the former White House aide's 30-month prison term.


A conviction remains on Scooter Libby's record, and he must still pay a $250,000 fine.

The prison time was imposed after a federal court convicted Libby of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in the probe of the leak of the name of a CIA operative.

A commutation is distinct from a pardon, which is a complete eradication of a conviction record and makes it the same as if the person has never been convicted.

Bush has only commuted Libby's prison term, which means that the conviction remains on Libby's record and he must still pay a $250,000 fine. He will be on probation for two years.

[JayhawkMom]

Just goes to show ya that some people ARE above the law.......

What does it mean to "respect the jury's decision" and then say that the sentence was too harsh??? Would that sentence be too harsh if it had been ME who'd been convicted??? Doubtful.......

[jeezeweeze]

I pray to God that whomever the president is, he/she will consider their actions and how it effects our country. Congress is a joke too and they should be held accountable for this mess we are in.

It can be a turning point for "we the people" if we stay on their asses and bombard them with every stupid thing they do. Make sure you send emails and phone calls on "anything " you find unethical.

Your right JHM politicians cannot be above the law and we need to see to it they know how we feel.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE , not the idiots in Washington



YouTube - Bush Ethics Pledge

[TexKan]

Both sides are a bunch of clowns so why is it so surprising when either side acts like this? The Dems don't have clean hands in any of it. Last time I saw Clinton's pardon list it was quite long so all I can say is - at least he wasn't pardoned. coulda been worse.

And there are those that say politics aren't entertaining.......................... LOL

[Army_of_One]

I guess Bush took a play from the Klinton play book...

USDOJ: Office of the Pardon Attorney - Pardons Granted by President Clinton

take a peek and SEE how many pardons and what they were for....

[Made in the USA]

My favorite pardon-----

"Pardon me. Do you have any "grey poop on"????

[Army_of_One]

I find this interesting....

CLINTON MACHINE CRIMES FOR WHICH CONVICTIONS WERE OBTAINED

Drug trafficking (3), racketeering, extortion, bribery (4), tax evasion, kickbacks, embezzlement (2), fraud (12), conspiracy (5), fraudulent loans, illegal gifts (1), illegal campaign contributions (5), money laundering (6), perjury, obstruction of justice.

CRIME STATS

- Number of individuals and businesses associated with the Clinton machine who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes: 47
- Number of these convictions during Clinton's presidency: 33
- Number of indictments/misdemeanor charges: 61
- Number of congressional witnesses who have pleaded the Fifth Amendment, fled the country to avoid testifying, or (in the case of foreign witnesses) refused to be interviewed: 122

CAMPAIGN FINANCE INVESTIGATION

- As of June 2000, the Justice Department listed 25 people indicted and 19 convicted because of the 1996 Clinton-Gore fundraising scandals.
- According to the House Committee on Government Reform in September 2000, 79 House and Senate witnesses asserted the Fifth Amendment in the course of investigations into Gore's last fundraising campaign.
-James Riady entered a plea agreement to pay an $8.5 million fine for campaign finance crimes. This was a record under campaign finance laws.

[sunny beach]

I find it disturbing that the President can commute this sentence, but still do nothing for the 2 former Border Patrol Agents that shot a drug dealer/smuggler in the butt and are now sitting in jail for it.

[Army_of_One]

Its because the gov't supports the invasion....

[Highwayman]

What’s interesting is that no one was ever charged with the crime of leaking the identity of a covert agent, the reason for the investigation in the first place. It’s known who did leak it and he wasn’t charged either because he didn’t know her status or she wasn’t really covert in the first place. It was a non-crime. The only crime was after being grilled repeatedly Libby managed to contradict himself.

The prosecutor failed to find a crime so he created one.

The folks complaining the loudest about Libby are generally the same folks that defended Clinton when he committed perjury. Those folks are not about principle or the rule of law, they’re about partisan politics.

Originally Posted by Army_of_One

I guess Bush took a play from the Klinton play book...

USDOJ: Office of the Pardon Attorney - Pardons Granted by President Clinton

take a peek and SEE how many pardons and what they were for....

Army, if you are going to bring up Clinton’s pardons, don’t forget that Clinton was investigated for taking money in exchange for some of those pardons. Here’s just one of the many examples.

Marc Rich

Wire fraud, mail fraud, racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, criminal forfeiture, income tax evasion, and trading with Iran in violation of trade embargo, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1341, 1962(c), 1962(d), 1963, and 2; 26 U.S.C. § 7201, 50 U.S.C. § 1705, and 31 C.F.R. §§ 535.206(a)(4), 535.208 and 535.701

Last week's hearing also revealed a March 18, 2000 e-mail in which Rich representative Avner Azulay proposed to Rich attorney Robert Fink that Denise Rich go "on a 'personal' mission to NO1 with a well-prepared script." ("NO1," investigators believe, was President Clinton.) Three days later, Rich gave $50,000 to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign. Another $50,000 eventually followed. Over the next seven months, Rich pumped $275,000 into Democratic campaign coffers, plus $100,000 to the Clinton library (atop her $350,000 in previous gifts). On January 20, Denise Rich's $475,000 personal mission was accomplished when her ex-husband won his notorious pardon.
Deroy Murdock on Clinton's Pardon Scandal on National Review Online

….We've also learned that Mr. Rich's ex-wife, Denise Rich, has donated large sums of money to the Democratic Party, reportedly pledged $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library and gave expensive furniture to the president at the end of his term. These gifts and donations raise obvious questions and they deserve an action….

….It appears that as many as 47 of President Clinton's final grants of clemency did not go through the normal process.

Many were not investigated or vetted by the Justice Department to any significant degree, and I think we have seen some of the problems that can occur when that happens….
CNN Transcript - Special Event: Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Case of Clinton Pardon of Marc Rich - February 14, 2001