ABC News: Trump poised to pardon Scooter Libby

[PragmaticPopulist]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-trump-poised-pardon-scooter-libby-dick-cheneys/story?id=54433032

[Doimper]

Refill the swamp

[Mr. Smith]

But that was more than 10 years ago.

[Green Line]

We're gonna have the biggest, most crowded, toxic swamp folks.  Believe me.

[junior chįmp]

Trump supporters got conned so hard.

[KingSweden]

...why?

[new_patomic]

Perhaps this is a trial run for future pardons of people who have lied to the FBI or obstructed Justice

[darklordoftech]

...why?

[mencken]

Did not Libby already serve his sentence?

[emailking]

Did not Libby already serve his sentence?

Bush commuted the prison sentence. But it's still on his record as a conviction. His law license was stripped at the time as a result. He's got it back, but a conviction can still be a thorn in your side. So it's not entirely trivial for him if he's pardoned.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

[Koharu]

My reaction exactly. Brought to mind this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ThHrqlGdSk (Scooter Libby specifically at 1:45)

[Yank2133]

Trump supporters are the biggest marks in the world.

Drain the swamp lol!

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

...why?

Precedent. Testing the waters.

He's thinking he's going to need to hand out a lot of these, and that this will somehow make it better when he pardons Junior, Kushner, etc.

[darklordoftech]

The alt-right thinks Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Libby are no better than the Democrats...

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Trump is just saying to Paul Manafort, "DON'T SQUEAL ON ME, BRO."

I think it's a smoke signal to Cohen, just like Arpaio was a smoke signal to Flynn and Manafort (not that Trump was ever going to pardon either of them, maybe Cohen, but tbh I don't think he'll end up pardoning Cohen either).  Trump's pattern seems to be issuing a pardon to some washed-up Republican as soon as the noose starts really tightening around someone.  I think Trump will give signals he's planning to pardon folks and try to string them along to keep them from testifying and then just throw them under the bus at the last minute. 

[Stranger in a strange land]

Between begging for applause, rejoining TPP, bringing John Bolton on board, and talking about pardoning SCOOTER LIBBY, Trump has literally become Jeb Bush with racist tweets.

[#gravelgang #lessiglad]

Weird. I was told that Obama's pardon of Chelsea Manning amounted to "TrEaSOn."

Whatever one thinks of Manning, she at least arguably had virtuous intent instead of leaking classified information to get back at a political opponent.

And no, I'm not defending Chelsea Manning. She's bad. Libby's worse.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Also, I’ll just throw in my obligatory reminder here that accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt and can be used as evidence in civil cases.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Perjury is not a crime if they're a Republican.

[Fuzzy Bear]

In and of itself, I'm not opposed to the pardon of Scooter Libby.  It's the context that such a proposal is in.

There are MILLIONS of Americans with criminal records at the Federal and State levels who have been convicted of minor felonies that are still considered felons, still blocked from viable employment and the possibility of viable employment because of their prior record.  I'm talking about folks whose offenses were over ten (10) years ago, and who have not offended since.

And yet, the GOP routinely, at all levels, wished to make it tough for these folks to receive pardons.  Mitt Romney is one of the biggest pukes of all on this issue.  I remember in 2008, Sanctimonious Mitt was very much against felons receiving restoration of their voting rights, but he was OK with Bush 43 dropping everything to smooth Scooter's path.

The REAL criminal justice issue in America is NOT police brutality.  It is NOT racial profiling.  It is NOT inequality in sentencing.  It is the lingering and devastating effect a criminal conviction has on employment and employability; it is the barrier to entry into the middle class that such a record causes millions of Americans who have paid their debts to society, and who have not reoffended.  And this has been made worse by OVERCRIMINALIZATION (the conversion of what were once misdemeanor offenses into felonies by state legislatures who want to "get tough").

When America is willing to address THIS issue to where those who have paid their debts, then I'll be OK with dropping everything for Scooter Libby.  Meanwhile, let him suffer like millions of others who still have to explain their mistake of decades ago.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Weird. I was told that Obama's pardon of Chelsea Manning amounted to "TrEaSOn."

Whatever one thinks of Manning, she at least arguably had virtuous intent instead of leaking classified information to get back at a political opponent.

And no, I'm not defending Chelsea Manning. She's bad. Libby's worse.

Libby was never found guilty of leaking classified information, much less with intent to harm anyone.


(Obama was right to commute Manning's sentence. He was also right not to pardon him.)

[The Arizonan]

In and of itself, I'm not opposed to the pardon of Scooter Libby.  It's the context that such a proposal is in.

There are MILLIONS of Americans with criminal records at the Federal and State levels who have been convicted of minor felonies that are still considered felons, still blocked from viable employment and the possibility of viable employment because of their prior record.  I'm talking about folks whose offenses were over ten (10) years ago, and who have not offended since.

And yet, the GOP routinely, at all levels, wished to make it tough for these folks to receive pardons.  Mitt Romney is one of the biggest pukes of all on this issue.  I remember in 2008, Sanctimonious Mitt was very much against felons receiving restoration of their voting rights, but he was OK with Bush 43 dropping everything to smooth Scooter's path.

The REAL criminal justice issue in America is NOT police brutality.  It is NOT racial profiling.  It is NOT inequality in sentencing.  It is the lingering and devastating effect a criminal conviction has on employment and employability; it is the barrier to entry into the middle class that such a record causes millions of Americans who have paid their debts to society, and who have not reoffended.  And this has been made worse by OVERCRIMINALIZATION (the conversion of what were once misdemeanor offenses into felonies by state legislatures who want to "get tough").

When America is willing to address THIS issue to where those who have paid their debts, then I'll be OK with dropping everything for Scooter Libby.  Meanwhile, let him suffer like millions of others who still have to explain their mistake of decades ago.

I agree with this post almost one hundred percent and the hypocrisy displayed by Donald Trump and Mitt Romney is disgusting.

[Fuzzy Bear]

In and of itself, I'm not opposed to the pardon of Scooter Libby.  It's the context that such a proposal is in.

There are MILLIONS of Americans with criminal records at the Federal and State levels who have been convicted of minor felonies that are still considered felons, still blocked from viable employment and the possibility of viable employment because of their prior record.  I'm talking about folks whose offenses were over ten (10) years ago, and who have not offended since.

And yet, the GOP routinely, at all levels, wished to make it tough for these folks to receive pardons.  Mitt Romney is one of the biggest pukes of all on this issue.  I remember in 2008, Sanctimonious Mitt was very much against felons receiving restoration of their voting rights, but he was OK with Bush 43 dropping everything to smooth Scooter's path.

The REAL criminal justice issue in America is NOT police brutality.  It is NOT racial profiling.  It is NOT inequality in sentencing.  It is the lingering and devastating effect a criminal conviction has on employment and employability; it is the barrier to entry into the middle class that such a record causes millions of Americans who have paid their debts to society, and who have not reoffended.  And this has been made worse by OVERCRIMINALIZATION (the conversion of what were once misdemeanor offenses into felonies by state legislatures who want to "get tough").

When America is willing to address THIS issue to where those who have paid their debts, then I'll be OK with dropping everything for Scooter Libby.  Meanwhile, let him suffer like millions of others who still have to explain their mistake of decades ago.

I agree with this post almost one hundred percent and the hypocrisy displayed by Donald Trump and Mitt Romney is disgusting.

This is hard to take for me because Trump has appeared to buy into the "get tough" crowd on criminal justice issues, and the "War on Drugs" in particular. 

As much as he is a hypocrite, I could tolerate a pardon of disgraced former Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R-CA) moreso than Libby; he was a guy who, at least, once displayed bravery on behalf of his country. 

I notice how this proposal comes up once Bolton shows up in Trump's administration.  There is an element of wishing to rewrite history with such a move.  It's a way for Trump to give absolution to the Iraq policies of the Bush-Cheney years without explicitly reversing himself, rhetorically.

I would hope Rand Paul speaks out about this.  I would also hope that there would be a mobilization of folks against this.  Drop everything for Scooter Libby.  This is really dropping everything for Dick Cheney (whose daughter is in the House and has continuing ambitions).

[Coldstream]

What is the official justification for the pardon? I can’t see any upside for Trump at all from doing it. It’s not like there’s a massive Libby Lobby that will rejoice at this. The only possible reason to do this that I can think of is if he wanted to appoint him to something (Boltons Deputy NSA?...)