U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned former George W. Bush administration official Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was convicted of lying to investigators and obstruction of justice following the 2003 leak of the identity of a CIA operative.
Democrats immediately criticized the decision.
In an arc running from the Iraq war to today, Democrats linked the Libby pardon to Trump’s bitter feud with James Comey, who was fired by Trump as FBI director last year, and to a widening investigation of possible links between the Trump campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s former national security adviser and ex-campaign chairman are among those who have been indicted in the continuing Russia investigation.
The Libby pardon followed by only hours Trump’s Friday morning Twitter attack against Comey, in which he called the former FBI chief a liar and a leaker.
Excerpts of Comey’s new book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership,” give an unflattering portrayal of Trump and have been widely reported in the media this week.
Before heading the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Comey was deputy attorney general during the Bush administration and during that time he appointed a special counsel to prosecute a legal case that led to Libby’s guilty verdict in 2007.
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“I don’t know Mr. Libby,” Trump said in a White House 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.”
Libby could not immediately be reached for comment.
Conservative Republicans had been pushing for a pardon for Libby for years after former Vice President Dick Cheney was unable to persuade Bush to do it late in his presidency. Bush did, however, commute Libby’s 2 1/2-year prison sentence.
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Libby, chief of staff to Cheney during the run-up and early years of the Iraq war, was found guilty in 2007 of lying and obstructing an investigation into who blew the cover of CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose husband had criticized the Iraq war.
‘TROUBLING SIGNAL’
“President Trump’s pardon of Scooter Libby makes clear his contempt for the rule of law,” House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “This pardon sends a troubling signal to the president’s allies that obstructing justice will be rewarded.”
Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the Libby pardon was Trump’s way “of sending a message to those implicated in the Russia investigation: You have my back and I’ll have yours.”
The Libby pardon coincided with the arrival in the White House of John Bolton as Trump’s new national security adviser. Bolton was a key Bush administration advocate, along with Cheney and Libby, of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said, “President Bush is pleased for Scooter and his family.”
Cheney’s daughter Liz Cheney tweeted: “Scooter Libby is a good, honorable and innocent man who was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct and a miscarriage of justice. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for righting a terrible wrong.”
Trump has been attacking the FBI amid the investigation of his 2016 presidential campaign for possible links to Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
This is the second high-profile pardon of Trump’s tenure. Last year, he pardoned Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona sheriff who had campaigned for Trump, less than a month after he was convicted of criminal contempt in a case involving racial profiling.
Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, and a key Manafort associate are among those who have been indicted in the Russian meddling probe run by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
White House aides said earlier this week that Trump was fuming over FBI raids related to the investigation on Monday of the office and home of his personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
Trump has repeatedly called Mueller’s probe a “witch hunt” and he and Russia have both denied any wrongdoing.
It was the second high-profile pardon of Trump’s tenure. Last year, he pardoned Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona sheriff who campaigned for Trump, less than a month after he was convicted of criminal contempt in a case involving racial profiling.
— Reporting by Steve Holland, Justin Mitchell and Makini Brice Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Bernadette Baum and Bill Trott
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