{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='WRAP Bush commutes prison term of Scotter Libby, Hillary Clinton comment' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54be1dd8eafeecae139320' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54be1dd8eafeecae139320' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nWRAP Bush commutes prison term of Scotter Libby, Hillary Clinton comment\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eAP TelevisionWashington, DC - Date Unknown1. I. Lewis \" Scooter\" Libby leaving a building and getting into a carAP Television Washington, DC - 2 July 20072. SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Rothstein, Professor of Law, Georgetown...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eWashington, DC - Date Unknown\u003cbr/\u003e1. I. Lewis \" Scooter\" Libby leaving a building and getting into a car\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eWashington, DC - 2 July 2007\u003cbr/\u003e2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Rothstein, Professor of Law, Georgetown University:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The president has the absolute power to do this, to grant pardons and commutations. No court, not even the Supreme Court, can overturn it, Congress can't overturn it. But it does appear, when it is exercised this way, to many people, that he is trampling on what a duly constituted court and jury have found. And Americans don't like that.\" \u003cbr/\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eDes Moines, Iowa - 2 July 2007\u003cbr/\u003e3. Wide shot of campaign event for Hillary Clinton, Democratic US presidential candidate\u003cbr/\u003e4. Various of crowd \u003cbr/\u003eDes Moines, Iowa - 2 July 2007\u003cbr/\u003e5. SOUNDBITE (English) Hillary Clinton, Democratic US presidential candidate:\u003cbr/\u003e\"And what we saw today was elevating cronyism over the rule of law.  And what we saw today was further evidence that this administration has no regard whatsoever for what needs to be held sacred.  And when I'm president, we're going to get back to cherishing the Constitution, upholding the rule of law, and putting forth the best values of America for the entire world to see again.\"\u003cbr/\u003eWashington, DC - 16 March 2007\u003cbr/\u003e6. Various of former CIA ( Central Intelligence Agency) operative Valerie Plame testifying before members of the US Congress\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eWashington, DC - Date Unknown\u003cbr/\u003e7. Joe Wilson, Plame's husband, standing up from chair and walking to podium\u003cbr/\u003eUS President George W Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis \"Scooter\" Libby from a two-and-a-half-year prison term on Monday, stepping into a criminal case with heavy political overtones on grounds that the sentence was just too harsh.\u003cbr/\u003eBush's move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) leak case. \u003cbr/\u003eThat meant Libby was likely to have to report to prison soon and put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I respect the jury's verdict,\" Bush said in a statement.  \"But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.\"\u003cbr/\u003eUnlike a pardon, which would have wiped away Libby's criminal record, Bush's commutation voided only the prison term.\u003cbr/\u003eBush left intact a $250,000 US dollar fine and two years probation for Libby, and Bush said his action still \"leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby.\"\u003cbr/\u003eLibby was convicted in March of lying to authorities and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of a CIA operative's identity. \u003cbr/\u003eHe was the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.\u003cbr/\u003eThe commutation of Libby's sentence comes at a time when the administration is embroiled in accusations of political cronyism in last year's dismissals of US attorneys.\u003cbr/\u003eAs Libby's supporters celebrated, reaction was harsh from Democrats, who said the move \"completely tramples\" on the principle of equal justice under the law.\u003cbr/\u003eSpeaking at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said: \"What we saw today was further evidence that this administration has no regard whatsoever for what needs to be held sacred.\"\u003cbr/\u003eSpecial Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald disputed the president's assertion that the prison term was excessive.\u003cbr/\u003eBush's statement made no mention of the term \"pardon,\" and he made clear that he was not willing to wipe away all penalties for Libby.\u003cbr/\u003eA spokeswoman for Cheney said simply, \"The vice president supports the president's decision.\"\u003cbr/\u003eThe White House said Bush came to his decision in the past week or two and made it final Monday because of the ruling of the appeals panel, which meant Libby would be going to prison soon.\u003cbr/\u003ePaul Rothstein, a Professor of Law at Georgetown University, said: \"The president has the absolute power to do this, to grant pardons and commutations. No court, not even the Supreme Court, can overturn. Congress cannot overturn it.\"\u003cbr/\u003e\"But it does appear, when it is exercised this way, to many people, that he is trampling on what a duly constituted court and jury have found.\"\u003cbr/\u003e\"A lot of the presidents do it, on both sides of the party line, Democrats and Republicans,\" Rothstein added.\u003cbr/\u003eThe president's announcement came just as prison seemed likely for Libby. \u003cbr/\u003eHe recently lost an appeals court fight that was his best chance to put the sentence on hold, and the US Bureau of Prisons had already designated him an inmate.\u003cbr/\u003eThe president noted Libby supporters' argument that the punishment did not fit the crime for a \"first-time offender with years of exceptional public service.\"\u003cbr/\u003eYet, he added, \"Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice.\"\u003cbr/\u003e\"If a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable.\"\u003cbr/\u003eBush then stripped away the prison time.\u003cbr/\u003eThe leak case has hung over the White House for years. \u003cbr/\u003eAfter CIA operative Valerie Plame's name appeared in a 2003 syndicated newspaper column, Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald questioned top administration officials, including Bush and Cheney, about their possible roles.\u003cbr/\u003eNobody was ever charged with the leak, including Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage or White House political adviser Karl Rove, who provided the information for the original article. \u003cbr/\u003eProsecutors said Libby obstructed the investigation by lying about how he learned about Plame and whom he told. \u003cbr/\u003ePlame believes Libby and other White House officials conspired to leak her identity to reporters in 2003 as retribution against her husband, Joseph Wilson, who criticised what he said was the 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