UPATE: Friday, 4.13.18 1:21 PM ET – Trump has pardoned Libby.
President Donald Trump has signed off on a pardon for Scooter Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby (photo, right) was convicted of obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI in 2007. ABC News first broke the story Thursday night.
Some are surprised and wondering about the motivation for the pardon. Former President George W. Bush refused to pardon Libby before he left office, so a Trump pardon is filled with question. It seems Trump, hours after large portions of Jim Comey’s tell-all book about his time in the Trump administration were leaked before release, may have moved the president to take this action.
ABC News adds that “attorneys Joe diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing,” two lawyers who frequently appear on Fox News, and have reportedly been advising Trump, “have been urging a pardon for Libby.”
The Washington Post’s Philip Bump puts the pieces together, tweeting that Libby’s was a “conviction that stemmed from the last special counsel — who was appointed by Comey.”
And last month, Mother Jones published a story titled: “Trump Just Hired a Lawyer Who Says the FBI and DOJ Conspired to Frame Trump.” That would be Joe diGenova, who, Mother Jones notes, “thinks James Comey framed Scooter Libby, too.
Here’s what others are saying:
And this, although from last month, ties it all together:
Image by The U.S. National Archives via Flickr