All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

"I dont know what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it."

-- White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, commenting this morning on how the Clintons criticized President Bush for commuting Scooter Libby's prison term.

Veteran White House correspondent Bill Plante offers today's First Look at the Evening News. The big story: the continuing controversy surrounding President's Bush's decision to commute Scooter Libby's prison sentence.

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Lawyer Andrew Cohen analyzes legal affairs for CBS News and CBSNews.com.

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There isn’t a whole lot to say, legal analysis-wise, about President George W. Bush’s decision to commute the 30-month prison sentence of former White House official I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. A commutation, like a pardon, is a purely political act, like a trump card, worthy of evaluation and judgment through the lens of politics, not law.

That is not to say, however, that there are no legal consequences to the President’s decision. Obviously, Libby gets to fight his appeal (should he choose to) from the comfort of his home. Since the commutation does not erase Libby’s convictions for perjury and obstruction of justice relating to the CIA leak investigation you would imagine that the former golden boy would push to try to get a federal appeals court to overturn those blemishes on his otherwise fine record. But don’t forget that the President still has the power during or at the end of the appeals process to take the next step and pardon Libby outright. Monday’s commutation of the sentence- as opposed to a pardon of the convictions-- does not preclude that possibility.

So what happened? The President simply balanced the political benefit (from his conservative base, which wanted Libby to get the break) against the political backlash (from everyone else in the country, who wanted the guy to serve some time) and determined that he would satisfy the base. And he did so, apparently, without consulting with special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who doggedly investigated the CIA leak case and pushed successfully to convict Libby, or anyone else at the Justice Department...

Peter Maer is a CBS News White House Correspondent. He covered part of the Libby trial.

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The outcome of the next court hearing in the CIA leak case will be a moment of truth for the Bush White House. The judge who sentenced Lewis Scooter Libby to 30 months in prison for perjury and obstructing the investigation has set a Thursday hearing to determine when Libby will start his term. Federal Judge Reggie Walton, known as a tough by-the-book jurist, has indicated he sees no reason to delay Libby's trip to prison. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald strongly opposes any delay. Libby's lawyers contend he should remain free because his conviction could be overturned.

Unless Judge Walton grants Libby's request for a hold on the sentence during appeals, the president will have to decide whether to pardon the former loyal aide or see him to go to prison. While the stakes are obviously highest for Libby, there's a lot on the line for the White House...

Stephanie Lambidakis is a CBS News producer based in Washington. She's been tracking the Libby case for the last four years, and was at the courthouse today for the sentencing.

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The case that started with a major bang -- the indictment of one of the most powerful people in government -- ended with almost a whimper from the defendant himself.

As he stood before Judge Reggie Walton and looked up at the bench, Libby spoke in a soft voice and uttered just a few sentences, pleading with Walton to spare him prison time in part beause of his "whole life" of devoted government service. Ted Wells delivered a memorable line that no one in Libby-land will ever dispute: Scooter Libby "has fallen from public grace and it is a tragic fall, a tragic fall."

The somber mood inside the courtroom permeated the courthouse itself, even among the bloggers who maintained a lively running commentary throughout the trial.

The appeals will follow, but Scooter Libby's next stop is federal prison to begin serving his two-and-a-half year sentence.

The judge gave a tough sentence to "Scooter" Libby today -- and the sentencing of this one-time high-ranking White House official reminds us that even people with powerful connections, and important friends, are not above the law.

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Ward Sloane is a CBS News producer based in Washington.

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U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton threw the book at Scooter Libby for lying to a grand jury and obstructing justice. Judge Walton is known for stiff sentences, so this case is no surprise. He did, however, get a lot of advice from Americans as to what Libby’s sentence should be.

Some 160 Americans wrote letters to Judge Walton. People speculated for weeks over whether Vice President Dick Cheney would write Walton on Mr. Libby’s behalf. He did not, nor did the President. The two most famous were Donald Rumsfeld and Henry Kissinger; both recommended no jail time.

Many of the architects and supporters of the Iraq War – men who were integral to planning and executing the war – did weigh in and advocated leniency for Libby. These include Ken Adelman, John Bolton, Douglas Feith, Gen. Richard Myers, Paul Wolfowitz, Gen. Peter Pace and Richard Perle.

There were no famous names calling for Judge Walton to throw the book at Libby. Those expressing this sentiment were average Americans...

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We asked CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen to explain the Libby trial for us and others who got most of our legal expertise by watching re-runs of "Law & Order."

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There is such a swirl of political and legal jargon, not to mention media hyperbole, surrounding the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby that reasonable people could easily be forgiven for not knowing what the heck to make of it all. With that in mind, and with opening statements slated to begin early next week, I humbly offer, for the first time under the rubric of "Couric and Co.," CourtWatch’s longstanding and famously popular question-and-answer session.

What is the Libby trial all about? Please explain it to me like I’m a fifth-grader.

It’s really not that complicated. Libby, who was Vice-President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, was brought before a grand jury and asked under oath what he knew about the investigation into the identity of the person who leaked to reporters the name of a CIA agent. You aren’t allowed to leak such names and a federal prosecutor was trying to get to the bottom of the matter. Now that prosecutor, an earnest fellow named Patrick Fitzgerald, believes that Libby lied to the grand jury, and to federal investigators, which also is a federal crime. Remember Martha Stewart? She went to prison for five months (and served house detention for another five) for similar crimes.

What about the investigation itself? Did anyone get in trouble for leaking the name? And if not why did Libby get in trouble?

It’s the same old story—not the crime but the cover-up—that creates a headache for someone. We now know that a guy named Richard Armitage was probably the first person to identify Valerie Plame as a covert agent when he told a journalist about her but that he did so perhaps inadvertently (though some disagree about that) and then promptly disclosed his sin (if not his crime) to Fitzgerald. And the now-humbled-but-then-hubristic Karl Rove, who also was an earlier target of the investigation but he too has since been cleared. Why? We may never know precisely. But the best guess is that since the federal “leak” statute makes it so hard to convict, the evidence against anyone and everyone simply wasn’t enough for Fitzgerald, a no-nonsense apolitical prosecutor, to take to trial. Sometimes, truly there is less “there” there than people think...

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Before they assemble the jury for the "Scooter" Libby trial, prosecutors may want to check in with CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen first.

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So you want to be a juror in he upcoming (it starts today) perjury and obstruction trial of former White House official I.Lewis “Scooter” Libby, eh?

No problem. Just answer the following questions, please.

1. If and when you see Vice-President Dick Cheney on the witness stand later in the trial on behalf of the defense, will you want to: 1) stand up and cheer; 2) duck and cover, or 3) wonder aloud if the courtroom microphone is going to interfere with his pacemaker.

2. When Bob Woodward of the Washington Post is dragged to the witness stand, will you: 1) still want to ask him who “Deep Throat” was; 2) be disappointed that he doesn’t look like Robert Redford, or 3) think about all those silly interviews he does with Larry King.

3. When you first take a look at the defendant, will you: 1) wonder how a grown man with such power could be called “Scooter”; 2) wonder what the “I” stands for at the beginning of his name, or 3) figure he has got to be guilty of something with all those slick attorneys hanging around him.

4. Will you pay attention to what special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is saying in court or will you: 1) start thinking about Kevin Costner in the “Untouchables”; 2) wonder whether his hair is ever going to move, or 3) resent him for not indicting Karl Rove.

5. If and when Tim Russert of NBC News testifies, will you: 1) bring a copy of “Big Russ and Me” for him to sign; 2) bring your Redskins’ cap and remind the big Buffalo Bills fan of Washington’s big win in Super Bowl XXVI, or 3) expect him to start asking questions of the lawyers instead of answering them.

6. Do you even remember what political conflict brought about the investigation that brought about this case? If so, try to explain it in less than 50 words without using the words “yellow cake.” And can you find Niger on a map? If so, prove it.

7. If this trial lasts longer than one month, what are you most likely to do: 1) fake a seizure so you can get out of further jury duty; 2) buy a new notepad so you can continue to keep notes for the tell-all book you are going to write, or 3) start making a papier mache voodoo doll of Fitzgerald, Libby and the judge.

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CBS News legal consultant Andrew Cohen reacts to news that journalists will be called to testify in the Valerie Plame leak trial.

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It is not surprising that the only people who seem to care that journalists may be called to testify at the perjury and obstruction trial of former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby are journalists themselves.

To the rest of the nation, the idea that reporters should be immune from certain civic responsibilities (like being a witness in a criminal trial) simply plays into the burgeoning (and unfortunate) sense that journalists want special treatment when they deserve none.

That's just a fact that reporters have to live with in this age of intense cynicism toward the media. Another sad fact is that journalists who refuse to divulge their sources on principle often get in more trouble (read: jail for civil contempt) than any of the parties in the cases in which their testimony is sought.

In the end, former New York Times reporter Judy Miller may end up spending more time in jail (she was incarcerated for 12 weeks) than Libby might serve even if he is convicted. And just ask the reporters involved in the steroids case on the West Coast what they think of federal shield rules.

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