Pardoning Libby: "The President Can Do Whatever He Wants"
When Alberto Gonzales dropped by the reporters' bullpen that sits on the first floor of the Justice Department Wednesday, we (the reporters) asked the Attorney General about his reaction to Scooter Libby's conviction. Like his boss, the President, Gonzales said he's "sad" about the guilty verdict but added that he wasn't particularly surprised by it.
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who is also the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, has almost mythic status within the Justice Department, and Gonzales noted that once Fitzgerald had sunk his teeth into the investigation and secured a grand jury indictment, Scooter Libby was in deep trouble.
Asked about the pardon talk that erupted only minutes after the verdict was announced, Gonzales, whose last job was President Bush's White House Counsel, said it was "premature" to even think about a pardon while the appeals process plays out. However, he added that "the President can do whatever he wants" based on the absolute power to grant pardons spelled out in the Constitution. As soon as he said that, Gonzales, always sensitive to criticism that he's too close to President Bush, shot back: "not that I know anything about" what the White House may be thinking in the post-conviction climate.