Bush, Cheney Clashed Over Libby Pardon

Time Mag: Cheney Got in Bush's Face in Conflict that Shines Light on Relationship at End of Term

(CBS)  President Bush and Vice President Cheney fiercely disagreed over whether Mr. Bush should pardon Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in the Bush administration's final days in office, according to a report in Time magazine.

It says that, at one point, Cheney even got in the president's face, as the vice president relentlessly pressed Mr. Bush about it.

"These last hours represent a climactic chapter in the mysterious and mostly opaque relationship at the center of a tumultuous period in American history," the report says. "It reveals how one question - whether to grant a presidential pardon to a top vice-presidential aide - strained the bonds between Bush and his deputy and closest counselor."

Libby was convicted of obstructing the investigation of the 2003 outing of former CIA operative Valerie Plame. Her name was revealed to reporters after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The leak led to a long probe that resulted in Libby's conviction on charges of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators. Mr. Bush commuted Libby's sentence, and Llibby never served prison time, but the president didn't pardon him.

Cheney appealed to the president several times, Time says. During Mr. Bush's final week in office, Cheney was as determiend as ever to clear Libby's name and wouldn't relent, the magazine adds.

"Cheney really got in the president's face," a family source told Time, which also interviewed dozens of anonymous White House insiders. "He just wouldn't give it up."

In response to the Time article, Cheney said, "Scooter Libby is an innocent man who was the victim of a severe miscarriage of justice. He was not the source of the leak of Valerie Plame's name. Former Deputy Secretary of State, Rich Armitage, leaked the name and hid that fact from most of his colleagues, including the President. Mr. Libby is an honorable man and a faithful public servant who served the President, the Vice President and the nation with distinction for many years. He deserved a presidential pardon."

On "The Early Show Saturday Edition," Time assistant Managing Editor Michael Duffy explained that Libby was the "vice president's top aide, long-time adviser on both domestic and foreign policy, and he got in trouble with the law. What we find fascinating is ... that the vice president pressed President Bush three times for this pardon. And even after the president had decided it once, twice, and with some finality, it kept coming back up.

"That was an interesting insight - a window into this relationship that was really the most important in the last ten years in our country, and not very well-reported, a hard-to-read, transparent, opaque, kind of very difficult relationship to understand, and this is the really first time anyone climbed into their back-and-forth.

"I think everyone on both staffs, the vice president's staff and the president's, realized this was coming to a head in a potentially very volatile way," Duffy continued. "Everyone was quite nervous about it; both sides took fairly hard positions. The president at one point told his own personal lawyer that, if he had to take a poll on whether to give Libby a pardon, it would be 100-1 against in his staff.

"And so, by the time the Bush White House is coming to a close in the final three or four days, it's really kind of both sides are at loggerheads with each other. And in the end, Bush would just have to give the news to the vice president himself."

Did Mr. Bush have concerns that Cheney wasn't being completely honest in insisting Libby had nothing to do with the leak?

"I think there was some concern deep down among some in the White House," Duffy told co-anchor Chris Wragge. "We quote people saying, 'Even we weren't entirely sure what the deal was between Cheney and Libby.' But I think Bush decided not to do it because he didn't feel Libby was remorseful and he felt that he had in fact broken the law.

"What's interesting is that, since they've left office, this is another place where the two men have gone separate ways, (with ) Bush retiring fairly quietly to Texas, and Cheney staying in the fray here (in Washington)."

A report in The New York Times said Mr. Bush refused to send troops to arrest possible terror suspects in a Buffalo, N.Y. suburb in the aftermath of 9/11 - an unlawful use of military force within the United States that was purportedly supported by Cheney. Wragge wondered whether we're gong to see "maybe a long line of decisions that Vice President Cheney wanted President Bush to make that President Bush ended up not making."

"I think," Duffy responded, "we're both going to discover that they had differences on all sorts of things. ... But they also maintained such a tight and disciplined ship during their eight years. We didn't find out about them then.

"We are beginning to find out about them now."

[gca2]

I wonder how things would have been if Bush had picked someone else for his VP. I guess we'll never know, but it is tempting to speculate that we would not have gone into Iraq without Cheney tampering and coercing the CIA to twist their opinion about the yellow cake, etc...
Cheney continues to be a menace (and not the Dennis variety)...

[cheneyleavingscene]

(among the many outradgeous outradges committed by Richard "Dick" Cheney:) Recall, Cheney was DRUNK when he shot that old coot in the face and then ran off to hide from the cops for 14 hours to sober up before going into the police station and giving a statement. That is a FELONY in most (if not all) states called Leaving the Scene [of an Accident Involving Personal Injury]. Dick Cheney was so drunk with power that it is incredible.

[xlib]

Look at all the hate your media has stirred up. I bet all you lemmings are out there with your pitchforks.
All you have is your hate and name calling, that's all.

[abbe91]

The irony is that Bush couldn't pardon Libby. A pardoned Libby could have been called to testify and not been able to plead the fifth anymore.

[hamiltongrad]

I don't get the whole business. The leaker, never went to trial. They knew who it was ,the whole time. This was just a set up to "get someone."

[chonder2]

Scooter tried to intimidate Richard Clark in 2001 because Clarke said he did not believe the Mohamed Atta meeting in Prague story.

[gramto8]

Remember how, even as short a time as seven or eight months ago, things were still being blamed on Bill Clinton? Heck, they were even pulling in Jimmy Carter, for goodness sake! At the same time, things started to be blamed on Barack Obama even before he was actually in office. NOW, less than eight months into President Obama's term, we are reading people condemn us for mentioning anything that happened during the Bush administration. Funny how their perspective changes so quickly, isn't it? They are good little Faux News followers.

[wendyoriol]

WOW!!! WHAT ALL THE HEAT ABOUT LOL.... WE ALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE.......

[chonder2]

gram-That's the Repub 6 month rule.Don't remember anything before then.

[didserve]

Either charge this idiots with a crime or quit talking about them!

[proudmilvet]

Old Draft Dodgin Dick! LOL!

[proudmilvet]

I Think we should keep an eye on what Cheney is still up to. Even out of office this old Draft Dodger is still Dangerous!

[jsd330]

Bush and Cheney are old news who cares what they did or didn't do. It's all water under the bridge now. Let's keep an eye on what Obama and his chief of staff are up to. 2 Chicago politicians now that's real trouble.

[proudmilvet]

Amazing how members of the Rush Limbaugh Party try to make Like the Previous 8 Years of Stupidity,Greed,Lying & Hate Somehow never happened. Yeah we know, it's all the fault of Obama, the "Libs" the "Democrat" Party, the "Liberal Left Elitists" the "Drive By Media" ect. Conservatives need to get out of their Denial & Fantasy Land & Stop taking your Marching orders from Rush(Draft Dodger)Limbaugh.

[the_majesty]

Why is the media running this story. Bush / Cheney are out of office.
The media needs to focus on Obama and his "Stupid Police Statement".

[Yellowbird77]

Actually, Bush did NOT stand up to Cheney on this one or "Scooter" would be in jail today. But Cheney couldn't stand him finding a new boyfriend, so he BULLIED Bush to pardon him.

Of course the coward caved.

[vuenbelvue]

Where is Cheney's daughter, Mark? Why isn't he/she here supporting him. Telling us why he is such a misunderstood man?

[babooph]

With the "new feudalism",like the old,on rare times,even one of the lesser nobility was punished.

[cydygitt1]

Everyone knows that the EVIL dirty dickie was behind the CIA leak and all the manipulated and manufactured intelligence causing the U.S. to invade and occupy Iraq for BIG OIL. It all began with the early energy meetings between dirty dickie and BIG OIL in early 2001.

[txlakeside]

Watch for the buzz words of fear mongers ... republiCONS have been doing it for the last 10 years! Fer moger racist and dumb as dirt rednecks now dominate the republiCON party! LOL! Bset advertisement for any other Party ... look at what the GOP posters rant about! Commies everywhere, the sky is falling .... LOL!

[erasmus111]

by shazmispamks3 July 25, 2009 3:17 PM EDT
Yes? Erasmus what a strange weather pattern no sign of summer here in toronto so much for the global warming crapp ..


Well you may not see any signs of it, but I do. : ) For the past few years it's been getting a lot hotter. Normally we MIGHT get a few days where it's close to 90, but there have been getting more and more days like that. Also we usually don't get too many days with high humidity. We are supposed to be getting a lot of 90 degree (F)days over the next bit, and the humidity is suppose to reach around 41 (110 F)!!!!