I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (born August 22 1950) is a former Assistant to the President of the United States, George W. Bush, Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, and Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs, serving from 2001 to 2005. blank">"Biographies of White House Senior Staff: Lewis Libby", _United States Department of State, February 2005, archived by web.archive.org, accessed December 10, 2007. indictment_28102005.pdf" target="_blank">"Indictment" in United States of America vs. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby", _United States Department of Justice, 28 October, 2005, accessed December 10, 2007. He resigned all three government positions immediately after he was indicted on federal obstruction and perjury charges resulting from the grand jury investigation into the CIA identity leak known as the Plame Affair, which led to his criminal trial in United States v. Libby. Kenneth T. Walsh, blank">"A Rough Road For 'Scooter'? An Inside Player Takes Center Stage", U.S. News & World Report, 31 October, _2005, accessed 23 September, 2006. (2 pages.) The day after his conviction in that trial, he resigned his later appointment as senior advisor at the Hudson Institute (January 1, 2006 - March 7, 2007). Tim Grieve, room/2007/05/31/libby_sentencing/index.html" target="_blank">"The War Room: 'On Behalf of I. Lewis Libby'" ("Update"), _Salon, 31 May, 2007, accessed 17 July, 2007.

In United States v. Libby, the jury convicted Libby on four of the five counts in the indictment: one count of obstruction of justice; two counts of perjury; and one count of making false statements to federal investigators. lewis_libby_jr/index.html" target="_blank">"I. Lewis Libby Jr. (Index): The Counts", _The New York Times, Times Topics, updated periodically, 6 March, 2007, accessed 6 July, 2007. Libby is "the highest-ranking White House official convicted in a government scandal since National Security Adviser John Poindexter in the Iran-Contra affair two decades ago." Michael J. Sniffen and Matt Apuzzo (Associated Press),blank">"Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Trial: Ex-Cheney Aide Libby Found Guilty of Obstruction, Perjury, Lying to the FBI in CIA Leak Case", _ABC News, March 6 2007, accessed June 10 2007. See also: Associated Press, x.htm" target="_blank">"A History of Indictments involving White House Staff", _USA Today, 26 October, 2007, accessed 6 July, 2007.

The presiding trial judge, Reggie B. Walton, sentenced Libby to 30 months in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, and two years of supervised release, including 400 hours of community service, Paul Courson, Brianna Keilar, Brian Todd, Jeffrey Toobin, and the Associated Press, blank">"Libby Sentenced to 30 months in Prison", _CNN.com, 5 June, 2007, accessed 5 June, 2007. Matt Apuzzo and Pete Yost (Associated Press), libby_could_face_longer_sentence/?page=full" target="_blank">"Libby Sentenced to 2 1/2 Years in Prison", _boston.com, 5 June, 2007, accessed 5 July, 2007. See qualification in Jeralyn Merritt, blank">"Scooter Libby: 30 Months in Prison, $250k Fine", TalkLeft (accredited press blog), 5 June, 2007, accessed 5 June, 2007: "Note: CNN [in its television broadcasts and some online reports] erroneously reported that Libby's sentence included 2 years probation. In fact, it was supervised release, which is similar but different from probation, and replaced parole in the federal system in 1987." _Jeralyn Merritt, blank">"Libby: Life on Supervised Release", TalkLeft (accredited press blog), 5 July, 2007, accessed 8 July, 2007. (Provides link to PDF of Judge Walton's "Judgment in a Criminal Case" in _United States v. Libby, filed 22 June, 2007, accessed 8 July, 2007.) and then ordered Libby to begin his sentence immediately. blank">"Judge Orders Libby Jailed during Appeal", _CNN News, 14 June, 2007, accessed 8 July, 2007. When Libby's appeal of Judge Walton's order failed, President Bush commuted Libby's 30-month prison sentence, leaving the other parts of his sentence intact. George W. Bush, blank">"Grant of Executive Clemency: A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America", _The White House, 2 July, 2007, accessed 2 July, 2007. Edwin Chen, 1hk&refer=home" target="_blank">"Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Term in CIA Leak Case (Update 2)", _Bloomberg.com, 2 July, 2007, accessed 2 July, 2007. In commuting Libby's prison term, Bush stated: "I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison. ... My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged." After Libby paid his monetary fine and penalty totaling $250,400, Judge Walton queried aspects of the presidential commutation, Neil Lewis and Jim Rutenberg, "blank">"Libby Pays Fine; Judge Poses Probation Query", _The New York Times, 6 July, 2007, accessed 6 July, 2007. and lawyers filed their briefs supporting Libby's serving supervised release, resolving the issue and thus clearing the way for Libby to begin the rest of his sentence, the two years of supervised release and 400 hours of community service. Jeralyn Merritt, blank">"All Sides Agree Libby Should Serve Supervised Release", TalkLeft (accredited press blog), 9 July, 2007, accessed 10 July, 2007. (Provides links to PDF versions of the various legal briefs.) Neil A. Lewis, "Issue of Supervised Release for Libby Is Cleared Up", _The New York Times, 10 July, 2007, accessed 10 July, 2007.

President Bush's commutation of Libby's prison sentence became the subject of a hearing on "The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials" held by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Representative John Conyers, Jr., on July 11, 2007. Anderson Cooper, "Breaking News", Anderson Cooper 360°, broadcast onCNN, 3 July, 2007, 10 p.m.-12 a.m. EDT, accessed July 3 2007. 070703.htm" target="_blank">"Political Bulletin: Bush Bashed Over Libby Commutation: Furious Democrats Will Hold Hearings", US News and World Reports, Washington News, July 3 2007, accessed July 3 2007. "The Use and Misuse of Clemency Powers by Officials of the Executive Branch", _judiciary.house.gov, 11 July, 2007, accessed 11 July, 2007. Julie Hirschfeld Davis (Associated Press), blank">"Bush Refuses to Explain Libby Order", _FoxNews.com, 11 July, 2007, accessed 11 July, 2007. On December 10, 2007, Libby's lawyers announced that he would drop his appeal of his conviction in "the CIA leak case," leaving intact his remaining sentence and fine and leaving on his record his felony convictions (unless he is granted a full pardon by President Bush). Matt Apuzzo (AP), blank">"Libby to Drop Appeal in CIA Leak Case", _The Associated Press, google.com, December 10, 2007, accessed December 10, 2007. ("President Bush could wipe away the conviction with a full pardon, something he has refused to rule out. [Theodore] Wells [one of his lawyers] said Monday [December 10, 2007] that he has not spoken to the White House about a pardon and does not know what Bush will do.") The next day, December 11, 2007, President Bush issued 29 pardons but did not include Libby among them. Jeralyn Merritt, "Bush Issues 29 Pardons, None for Scooter Libby", TalkLeft (accredited press blog), December 11, 2007, accessed December 13, 2007: "That doesn't mean one won't be forthcoming now that Libby has dropped his appeal. Bush has said previously he wouldn't give a pardon while the appeal was pending. Since Libby only announced his intent to withdraw the appeal yesterday [December 10, 2007], it could just be a matter of timing. Bush can grant pardons until he leaves office in 2009."