|
|
Hillary slams Bush for sparing Libby jail |
 |
+ |
- |
16:33, July 05, 2007 |
Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton drew a distinction between President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby - which she has harshly criticized - and her husband's 140 pardons in his closing hours in office.
"I believe that presidential pardon authority is available to any president, and almost all presidents have exercised it," Clinton said. "This was clearly an effort to protect the White House... There isn't any doubt now, what we know is that Libby was carrying out the implicit or explicit wishes of the vice president, or maybe the president as well, in the further effort to stifle dissent."
Libby, a former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, had been sentenced to 30 months in prison as well as probation and a $250,000 fine for perjury in connection with the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name.
Hint at a pardon
Just hours after a court rejected Libby's appeal, Bush announced his decision to commute the prison term portion of the sentence, which he labeled excessive, while leaving the fine and two years of probation intact.
The president has since hinted at a possible full pardon for the former White House aide.
Amid growing criticism from Democrats Bush defended his "considered judgment", saying it was "the right decision to make and I stand by it". When asked if he was keeping the door open to a later pardon, he replied: "I rule nothing in and nothing out".
Clinton said her husband's pardons were simply routine exercises in the use of the pardon power, and none were aimed at protecting the Clinton presidency.
Analysts say Bush's stance, on one level, was merely practical. When he commuted Libby's prison term, the court ruling had made jail time imminent. He now has plenty of time to consider a pardon, provided all of Libby's appeals fail.
But the decision to not yet grant a full pardon has done little to calm a storm of criticism.
Joseph Wilson, Plame's husband, has suggested the President's decision was a cover-up attempt to protect Cheney and his own office.
Source: China Daily/agencies
|
|
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article