Scooter Libby

I. Lewis Libby Jr.
Born:	August 22, 1950 New Haven, Connecticut
Charges:	Obstruction of justice, Perjury (2 counts), Making a false statement
Sentence:	30 months federal prison (commuted), $250,000 fine, 2 years supervised release
Facility:
Status:	Sentence commuted; never incarcerated; later pardoned

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. (born August 22, 1950) is an American attorney and former government official. From 2001 to 2005 he served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs, and Assistant to President George W. Bush. A federal grand jury indicted him in October 2005 during the investigation into the public disclosure of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. He resigned the same day.

In March 2007 a jury in the District of Columbia convicted Libby of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton sentenced him in June 2007 to 30 months in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Libby never served the prison term. President Bush commuted the prison portion of the sentence on July 2, 2007, before Libby reported to custody. The conviction and the fine stayed in place.

The case stayed unresolved for more than a decade. The D.C. Court of Appeals reinstated Libby to the bar in November 2016. President Donald Trump granted him a full pardon on April 13, 2018.

Background

Libby was born on August 22, 1950, in New Haven, Connecticut. He earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1972. He took his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1975.

He practiced law and moved in and out of government over the next two decades. He held posts at the State Department and the Defense Department under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. By the time George W. Bush took office in 2001, Libby was a known quantity in Republican national security circles.

In the Bush administration he held three jobs at once. He was Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney. He was the Vice President's national security adviser. He was also an Assistant to the President. The combination made him one of the more influential staff figures on Iraq policy and intelligence matters.

Plame Affair and Charges

The case grew out of the run-up to the Iraq War. In early 2003 the administration argued that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Niger for a nuclear program. Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson had been sent by the CIA to look into the claim. He concluded it was not supported.

Wilson said so in public. In July 2003 he published an op-ed in The New York Times titled "What I Didn't Find in Africa." It directly challenged the administration's use of the Niger claim.

Days later, columnist Robert Novak named Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, and identified her as a CIA operative. Plame was a covert officer. Her status was classified. The disclosure raised a legal question. Had an administration official broken the federal law against exposing a covert agent's identity?

The Justice Department named U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as Special Counsel to investigate. Fitzgerald looked at who had passed Plame's identity to reporters and whether the act violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

No one was charged with the underlying leak. The investigation instead turned to what Libby told investigators. Fitzgerald's team found that Libby had discussed Plame's CIA employment with reporters before Novak's column ran. When the FBI and the grand jury questioned him, Libby said he had first heard about Plame from NBC journalist Tim Russert and was passing along newsroom gossip. Fitzgerald concluded that account was false. The evidence showed Libby had learned of Plame from Cheney and other government sources, then discussed her with reporters.

On October 28, 2005, the grand jury returned a five-count indictment. It charged one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and two counts of making false statements to the FBI. Libby resigned all three of his government positions that day.

Trial and Conviction

Libby pleaded not guilty. His trial opened in January 2007 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, before Judge Reggie B. Walton.

The prosecution's theory was narrow. Fitzgerald did not have to prove the leak itself was a crime. He had to prove that Libby lied about how he learned Plame's identity and whom he told, and that those lies blocked the grand jury from getting at the truth. Witnesses included reporters who testified about their conversations with Libby. The defense argued that Libby had a faulty memory, not criminal intent, and that he was busy with national security work when the events occurred.

The jury reached a verdict on March 6, 2007. It convicted Libby on four of the five counts: obstruction of justice, both counts of perjury, and one count of making a false statement. It acquitted him on the second false-statement count.

On June 5, 2007, Judge Walton sentenced Libby to 30 months in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and two years of supervised release that included 400 hours of community service. Walton later spoke about applying the law evenly. He said many Americans believe "that justice is determined to a large degree by who you are."

Sentence Commutation

Libby asked to stay out of prison while he appealed. The trial court and an appeals panel both declined. That left him facing a report date.

On July 2, 2007, President Bush commuted the prison portion of the sentence. The 30 months of incarceration were erased. Everything else stood. Libby remained a convicted felon. He still owed the $250,000 fine. The supervised release stayed on the books. Bush put it plainly. He said he respected the jury's verdict but had "concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive."

The decision drew a line that mattered. A commutation reduces or ends a punishment. A pardon wipes out the conviction. Bush chose the narrower tool. Vice President Cheney had pressed for a full pardon. Bush declined. Reporting from the period describes the disagreement as a strain on their relationship in the administration's final stretch.

Libby paid the fine. He never spent a day in federal prison. The District of Columbia suspended his law license in 2007, and the D.C. Court of Appeals disbarred him in 2008 following the conviction. In June 2016 he petitioned for reinstatement. On November 3, 2016, the D.C. Court of Appeals granted it and found him fit to practice law again. The court's disciplinary report noted that Libby continued to assert his innocence and that a key prosecution witness had revised her account.

Pardon

President Trump granted Libby a full pardon on April 13, 2018, eleven years after the conviction. The pardon cleared the conviction from his record. Trump said he did not know Libby personally. "For years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly," the President said. "Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life."

The timing drew scrutiny. The pardon came while Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating the Trump campaign and possible obstruction tied to the Russia inquiry. Both cases centered on whether officials had lied to investigators. Critics read the pardon as a signal to potential witnesses.

Valerie Plame objected. She said Trump's stated basis for the pardon was wrong. "President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby on the basis that he was 'treated unfairly,'" she said. "That is simply false." She added that the message she heard was "that you can commit crimes against national security and you will be pardoned."

Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, also pushed back. He said the trial had been fair, the evidence sufficient, and the verdict sound, and that the pardon did not change those facts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What was Scooter Libby convicted of?

A federal jury in the District of Columbia convicted Libby on March 6, 2007, of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI. The charges came out of the investigation into the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. The jury acquitted him on a second false-statement count.

Q: Did Scooter Libby go to prison?

No. Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Libby to 30 months in federal prison in June 2007, but he never served the term. President George W. Bush commuted the prison portion of the sentence on July 2, 2007, before Libby reported to custody. The conviction and the $250,000 fine stayed in place.

Q: What is the difference between Bush's commutation and Trump's pardon?

Bush's 2007 commutation removed the 30-month prison sentence but left Libby a convicted felon and left the $250,000 fine intact. Trump's 2018 pardon was a full pardon that cleared the conviction itself.

Q: When did Trump pardon Scooter Libby?

President Trump granted Libby a full pardon on April 13, 2018, eleven years after the conviction. Trump said he had heard Libby was treated unfairly. The pardon came while Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating possible obstruction tied to the Russia inquiry, and critics questioned the timing.

Q: Was anyone charged with leaking Valerie Plame's identity?

No one was charged with the underlying leak. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald investigated who disclosed Plame's covert CIA status, but the prosecution of Libby was for lying to investigators and obstructing the inquiry, not for the leak itself.

Q: Did Scooter Libby get his law license back?

Yes. The District of Columbia disbarred Libby in 2008 after his conviction. He petitioned for reinstatement in 2016, and the D.C. Court of Appeals restored his law license on November 3, 2016, finding him fit to practice. This came before Trump's 2018 pardon.