All you need to know about the Libby case

Yesterday President Bush commuted the completely excessive 2-1/2 year prison sentence that was handed down to Scooter Libby. This is far short of a full pardon, since Mr Libby will still serve a couple years probation and have to pay $250,000 in fines, and still have a felony conviction on his record.

These three paragraphs from today's Wall Street Journal article are really all you need to know about the entire case:

Mr. Libby was convicted of lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency operative, Valerie Wilson. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson [Clinton, Inc], had emerged as a prominent public critic of the administration's case for invading Iraq over weapons of mass destruction.

In his announcement, Mr. Bush underscored his respect for the jury's verdict against Mr. Libby and added that he was persuaded by arguments of those who defended the much-criticized investigation. The investigation, led by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald [Clinton, Inc], continued for more than 18 months, but never resulted in any charges directly related to the leaking. Instead, it produced only perjury and obstruction charges against Mr. Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, a strong advocate for the administration's war policies.

Mr. Bush concluded that the 30-month prison sentence given to Mr. Libby was "excessive" and decided to commute it. He was careful to add that his decision "leaves in place a harsh punishment," including permanent damage to Mr. Libby's reputation. The felony conviction itself remains intact, Mr. Libby's license to practice law was suspended, and he must serve out his two-year probation and pay $250,000 in fines, though his defense fund could raise enough to pay that.

So there you have it. With my emphasis added, you can clearly see what happened here. Clinton, Inc was still irked over the war in Iraq and wanted to try to "bring down" the current administration, so the went fishing for someone close to the President. It just so happened that a former Clinton, Inc foot soldier's identity was "compromised", so they found someone they could blame it on. Get a sympathetic prosecutor to trump up some fake charges completely unrelated to the supposed crime, and presto! -- worlds largest smear campaign. Liberals everywhere should be ashamed - but they won't be.