Libby

Today President Trump pardoned Scooter Libby which means it is time once again to review the Libby case. Libby was accused of outing a CIA agent named Valarie Plame and James Comey appointed Department of Justice attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate. Mr. Fitzgerald knew from the outset that Libby did not out Plame because Richard Armitage Deputy Secretary of State confessed to the outing but Fitzgerald chose not to prosecute Armitage. He told Armitage to keep quiet. Mr. Fitzgerald nonetheless pressed on for someone to prosecute, eventually focusing on Mr. Libby, whose trial became a contest of recollections. The excruciatingly inconsequential question on which his conviction turned was whether, as Mr. Libby recalled, he was surprised to hear NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert ask him about Ms. Plame in a phone call on July 10 or 11, 2003. In November 2003, Russert (who died in 2008) told the FBI that he didn’t recall mentioning Mr. Wilson’s wife to Mr. Libby, but couldn’t rule it out. By August 2004 Russert had changed his story. Under questioning by Mr. Fitzgerald, he insisted he could not have mentioned Ms. Plame. The case against Libby was weak but he was convicted of lying and fined $250,000 and sentenced to 30 months in prison. President Bush commuted his sentence but did not pardon him. He did incurred large legal fees and lost his license to practice law. This was later reversed and two years later he was reinstated. Some people believe that something similar happened to Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn but that case is still under review.