By Alex Pappas | Fox
News
President Trump on Friday pardoned Scooter Libby, the
former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney who was ensnared in what was known as
the “Valerie Plame affair” during the Bush administration.
“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.”
Libby, who served as Cheney's chief of staff, was
convicted in 2007 of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false
statements.
The case stemmed from an investigation into the leaking of the
covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, though Libby was not charged for
the leak itself.
President George W. Bush had previously commuted Libby's
prison sentence.
The Libby case has been criticized by conservatives, who
argue he was the victim of an overly zealous and politically motivated
prosecution by a special counsel.
Plame’s identity, it turned out, was leaked to journalist
Robert Novak not by the White House, but by Deputy Secretary of State Richard
Armitage.
Supporters of Libby, including Cheney, have long pushed
for a pardon.
The effort intensified after former New York Times reporter
Judith Miller’s 2015 book where she doubted the accuracy of her testimony that
prosecutors used to convict Libby.
Miller testified in 2007 that Libby told her Plame was a
CIA agent. Prosecutors used that testimony to say Libby lied.
But Miller wrote in her 2015 book, “The Story: A
Reporter’s Journey” that she’s worried her memory “may have failed me” during
the trial, and now doubts Libby ever told her that Plame worked for the CIA.
A statement from the White House explaining the pardon
made an apparent reference to Miller, saying “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 White House also noted that the District of Columbia
Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated Libby to the bar, reauthorizing him to
practice law, in 2016.
“In light of these facts, the president believes Mr.
Libby is fully worthy of this pardon,” White House press secretary Sarah
Sanders said.
Appearing on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Friday,
former Bush adviser Karl Rove, who was caught up in the controversy at the
time, took aim at the case's federal prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald.
“Fitzgerald persisted for years in trying to get
somebody's pelt nailed to his wall,” Rove said. “Mine and Scooter's. And he got
Scooter.”
The move would mark the third pardon by Trump. He
granted one last year for former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was awaiting
sentencing for contempt of court. Trump also has pardoned a U.S. Navy sailor,
who was convicted after taking photos of classified portions of a submarine.
It comes as Trump is slamming former FBI director James Comey -- who is
promoting his anti-Trump book -- as a “proven leaker and liar."
Comey himself had a role in the Libby case: after
Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the case, then-Deputy
Attorney General Comey appointed Fitzgerald as special counsel.
Victoria Toensing, an attorney for Libby who is close to
President Trump, referenced Comey in her statement celebrating the pardon on
Friday.
“Our law firm, diGenova & Toensing, was honored to
represent Lewis (Scooter) Libby to request a pardon for the injustice inflicted
on him and his family by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald and then-Deputy
Attorney General James Comey,” Toensing said.
Fox News’ John Roberts and The Associated
Press contributed to this report.
