Former White House aide Lewis Scooter Libby will go to prison without delays, as the judge refused to postpone his imprisonment.
Former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby will go to prison without delays, after a federal judge refused to postpone his 2 ½ year sentence in the CIA leak case.
According to the Houston Chronicle, “Despite the promise of an emergency appeal, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, met with probation officials to arrange for his surrender sometime in the next few weeks.”
The judge cited the ‘overwhelming’ evidence that Libby lied to investigators and obstructed Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s inquiry into the 2003 leak of a CIA operative’s identity as the reasons to deny the delay of Libby's prison term.
“Everybody is accountable under the laws of the United States no matter who they are, and therefore if you work in the White House you’re just as obligated to comply with the law as anybody else,” Walton said.
Libby’s lawyers plan to argue on appeal that the prosecutor was improperly appointed and that Walton should not have excluded witnesses and classified material Libby had hoped to use in his defense, Reuters said.
Libby still has the right to appeal, and therefore the president will continue not to intervene in the judicial process. The process of appealing the conviction could last until nearly the end of Bush’s term in a year and a half.
Source : www.torontodailynews.com
According to the Houston Chronicle, “Despite the promise of an emergency appeal, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, met with probation officials to arrange for his surrender sometime in the next few weeks.”
The judge cited the ‘overwhelming’ evidence that Libby lied to investigators and obstructed Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s inquiry into the 2003 leak of a CIA operative’s identity as the reasons to deny the delay of Libby's prison term.
“Everybody is accountable under the laws of the United States no matter who they are, and therefore if you work in the White House you’re just as obligated to comply with the law as anybody else,” Walton said.
Libby’s lawyers plan to argue on appeal that the prosecutor was improperly appointed and that Walton should not have excluded witnesses and classified material Libby had hoped to use in his defense, Reuters said.
Libby still has the right to appeal, and therefore the president will continue not to intervene in the judicial process. The process of appealing the conviction could last until nearly the end of Bush’s term in a year and a half.
Source : www.torontodailynews.com
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