Scooter Won't Need to Beg for Pardon

Slate's political wiz doesn't see Libby landing behind bars
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 15, 2007 2:28 PM CDT
Scooter Won't Need to Beg for Pardon
(FILES)Former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, I...   (Getty Images)

President Bush will step in and save Scooter Libby for two reasons, argues Slate's John Dickerson. First, to repay Dick Cheney for not throwing Karl Rove under the bus. And second, pardoning Libby could help Bush regain Republican support by appeasing conservatives who opposed the CIA leak investigation from the get-go and are riled up by immigration reform.

"The number of people who would be angered by a pardon who haven't already abandoned the president could fit in an airport shuttle bus," argues Dickerson, who goes on to counsel the GOP presidential candidates on staffing any future administration. If they truly believe he's been wronged, he says, they'd do well to "welcome Libby, if not actively court him." (More Valerie Plame stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X