White House mum on possibility of Libby pardon

The White House refused to speculate whether President Bush would pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby after Dick Cheney’s erstwhile chief of staff dropped his appeal in the CIA leak case Monday.

{mosads}White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said she would follow standard procedure and not comment on any potential pardon. In July, Bush commuted the former aide’s 30-month jail sentence.

However, Libby’s decision to drop the appeal opens the door to renewed questions about the case, in which the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson was leaked to the media.

Bush and other White House officials have routinely said that they would not comment on the case as it is making its way through the legal process. Now that it is closed, Bush could be asked to answer some of the queries that he has been deflecting since an investigation into the leak began.

Specifically, Bush said at the onset of the investigation that he would fire anyone who was found to have leaked the name, but critics argue that he did not follow through on that pledge.

In addition, the recent memoir of former spokesman Scott McClellan also raises questions about the involvement of top White House officials, including Bush and Cheney, in the case.

McClellan said he unknowingly passed along false information. “And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff, and the president himself,” McClellan said in his memoir.

Perino said Monday that she had not yet discussed the issue of a possible pardon with the president.

Should Bush pardon Libby, he would likely be criticized from all points along the political spectrum. Democrats would point to such a pardon in support of their claims that the administration deems itself to be above the law.

Likewise, some conservatives have said that Libby should not be pardoned unless Bush also frees two jailed Border Patrol agents who shot a suspected drug dealer. Their case has become a cause célèbre for those seeking tougher enforcement of the immigration laws and strengthened border security.