House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) criticized President Trump’s pardon of a former George W. Bush administration official on Friday, saying he was rewarding obstruction of justice and sending a negative signal at a time when his own administration is under investigation.
“This pardon sends a troubling signal to the president’s allies that obstructing justice will be rewarded,” Pelosi said in a statement. “The suggestion that those who lie under oath may be rewarded with pardons poses a threat to the integrity of the special counsel investigation, and to our democracy.”
{mosads}Trump on Friday offered a full pardon to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney. It cleared him of four felony convictions, including obstruction of justice, related to the leak of a CIA operative’s identity.
In its announcement of Trump’s pardon, the White House cited Libby’s community service, his two years of probation and the heavy fines he paid for his pardon.
“President Trump’s pardon of Scooter Libby makes clear his contempt for the rule of law,” Pelosi said. “Neither the president or his allies are above the law.”
The special counsel investigating collusion between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia is also looking into whether Trump himself obstructed justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey.
Former President George W. Bush previously commuted Libby’s sentence, but did not offer a pardon.