Cheney Furious at Bush for Not Pardoning Libby

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney believes disgraced former chief of staff Scooter Libby, convicted in the CIA leak investigation, deserved a pardon, the Weekly Standard reports. “He was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice,” the former vice president said. “Obviously, I disagree with President Bush.” Bush’s decision has been ascribed to an honest belief in Libby’s guilt, but also to a desire for the pardon not to appear politically motivated. More»

Supporters look to Cheney to sway Bush in final week

(NEWSER) - President Bush has less than a week to pardon Lewis “Scooter” Libby for his role in the CIA leak case, and at this point it’s unclear if he will, writes Byron York for the National Review. Dick Cheney's former chief of staff hasn't applied for one through the Justice Department. Supporters of Libby say they are relying on Cheney to convince the president. More»

Slate's political wiz doesn't see Libby landing behind bars

(NEWSER) - President Bush will step in and save Scooter Libby for two reasons, argues Slate's John Dickerson. First, to repay Dick Cheney for not throwing Karl Rove under the bus. And second, pardoning Libby could help Bush regain Republican support by appeasing conservatives who opposed the CIA leak investigation from the get-go and are riled up by immigration reform. More»

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney pursued a pardon for former aide Scooter Libby so doggedly in his final days in office that he pushed the bounds of his 9-year relationship with George Bush, reports Time. It wasn't so much a political issue as a moral "crusade" for Cheney, write Massimo Calabresi and Michael Weisskopf. He implored Bush not to leave "anyone on the battlefield" and said anything less than a full pardon would tarnish their legacy in the war on terror. "Cheney really got in the president's face," says one source. "He just wouldn't give it up." More»

Conviction a 'miscarriage of justice,' writes Fred Barnes

(NEWSER) - “Simple justice” should compel President Bush to pardon Lewis “Scooter” Libby, writes Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard. “Libby has either been punished far too severely for a very small offense,” writes Barnes “or he is an innocent man.” Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction—but not the actual leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity to columnist Robert Novak. More»