Bush Buys Scooters Silence

July 2 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush commuted Lewis "Scooter'' Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence in the CIA leak case, sparing him from punishment the president called "excessive.''

From a May 25, 2007 ABC News Report:

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby could face up to three years in prison, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald on Friday.

Fitzgerald wrote in the memorandum, "Mr. Libby maintains that despite his conviction, he is totally innocent. He has expressed no remorse, no acceptance of responsibility, and no recognition that there is anything he should have done differently."

Accepting responsibility and a show of remorse are usually a requirement for getting a sentence commuted... BUT Maybe, Bush is just a kind hearted guy; at least when it comes to someone like Scooter, who knows about all of the skeletons in this Administrations closet.

..."When Bush left the governor's office, he had denied clemency in all cases and refused to commute from death to life imprisonment a single death sentence but one—that of Henry Lee Lucas—and that because knowledge of Lucas's innocence of the murder for which he was about to be killed had become the subject of such national scrutiny that Bush could not afford politically to ignore it." ... (source)

UPDATE: Here's what Speaker Pelosi has to say about Bush handing Libby a "get out of jail, free" card.

Press Releases

For Immediate Release
07/02/2007

Pelosi Statement on President's Commutation of Scooter Libby Prison Sentence

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on President Bush’s commutation of Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s prison sentence today:

"The President's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people.

"The President said he would hold accountable anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak case. By his action today, the President shows his word is not to be believed. He has abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice, he has failed to uphold the rule of law, and he has failed to hold his Administration accountable.”