Les Jones

But Les,

you would never have been brought up on these entirely political charges in the first place, and had you been, you would never have been sentenced to that long in prison.

Its a shame. Frankly, I'm glad Shrub did it. First thing in awhile he's done thats shown any balls. Of course, it would be nice if he didn't reserve this power for only his close friends and had used it previously, for the many people who sit unfairly in jail today because the system is largely broken and a fair trial these days in often (sadly) the exception and not the rule.

"you would never have been brought up on these entirely political charges in the first place, and had you been, you would never have been sentenced to that long in prison."

I dunno. Martha Stewart wasn't convicted of what she was charged with, and instead was convicted of obstruction, just like Libby.

Her prison term was much shorter (five months) but her $190,000 fine was comparable. It's worth noting that she negotiated a settlement rather than waiting on a verdict and sentencing, and that Libby was convicted on four felony counts.

I agree with you, Les. Besides, this doesn't pass the "Mike test". (Would I have gone to jail if I lied to that judge? Damn right I would have).

Another issue that concerns me - why did he lie to begin with? What was he trying to protect?

Except, he didn't lie under oath and he wasn't covering up something that was otherwise illegal.

All he did was refuse to cooperate with a politically motivated hack prosecution. Are we know saying thats a crime? Whenever the police come calling, you no longer have a right to speak your mind? Are we eliminating the 1st and 5th amendment altogether??

Les, I stand by my contention that you would never have been prosecuted (unless, unbeknown to me) you've got a bank account and notoriety to rival Martha Stewarts). Both were motivated by PR far more than a serious concern for wrongdoing and respect for the rule of law.

All he did was refuse to cooperate with a politically motivated hack prosecution.

I agree this was a ridiculous case from the start, but sadly, that's just no excuse. The targets of an investigation don't get to decide all by themselves if the prosecutor is worthy. I'd go to jail for doing something like this, and so would you. People in a position of public trust should be the last to get an exemption.

Besides, he was not just refusing to cooperate, like some NYT reporter - he was convicted of perjury, which is a much more serious issue. Unless he was being incredibly reckless, he probably had a reason to lie, and a reason to risk his career, his reputation, and his freedom. Libby is not a stupid man, he understood what was at stake here.

As I understand it, normal sentencing guidelines for a first offender in this case ranged from probation and no jail time, up to 10 months of jail time. After the conviction on perjury and obstruction of justice, the prosecutor went in and argued for the increased sentence because it supposedly involved the leak of covert information (something that was never prooved, or even allowed by the judge to be discussed). A commutation of the sentence seems right to me, as a full pardon would also have been wrong.

Are you saying that Libby should have been made to some jail time (up to 10 months), or to serve the whole politically motivated excessive sentence?

Libby was convicted on four felony counts. No expert on the law and sentencing am I, but I find it hard to believe that no jail time to 10 months is normal. Hell, Li'l Kim got a year and a day, for three counts of perjury alone and a count of conspiracy, and that was after an admission of guilt.