Libby disbarred in District

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's disgraced former chief of staff, was disbarred Thursday from practicing law in the District of Columbia.

Libby, whose presidential pardon last year was a touchstone for Bush administration critics, was ejected from practicing law by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The D.C. court cited Libby's 2007 conviction for lying to a grand jury and federal officials investigating the identity leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.

“I. Lewis Libby Jr. is disbarred from the practice of law in the District of Columbia, and his name shall be stricken from the roll of attorneys authorized to practice before this court,” the court ordered in a brief two-page ruling.

{mosads}Last June, Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his crimes. President Bush commuted the sentence but did not issue a full pardon, which left Libby's convictions intact.

The court's order Thursday cited a D.C. code that states members of the Bar are required to be disbarred if they are convicted of offenses involving moral turpitude.

“This court has held that obstruction of justice and perjury are crimes of moral turpitude,” the order states. “Since respondent was convicted of each of these offenses … Disbarment is mandatory.”

Libby is not necessarily prohibited from practicing law outside of Washington. A D.C. Court of Appeals spokeswoman said the court's disbarment orders apply only to members of the District of Columbia bar.

The federal judge who sentenced Libby received 174 letters asking for leniency from current and former federal officials, including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace, former CIA director James Woolsey and former Nixon lawyer Leonard Garment.