The Libby Scooter surprise pardon, coming on a late Friday afternoon where unwholesome news is often dumped by political administrations of all types and stripes, is generating some commentary. Former White House Counsel Bob Bauer on Lawfare:
It is not clear how a Libby pardon advances the president’s cause directly. But Trump has never showed much interest in Libby’s conviction—until now. Perhaps the subject arose during discussions about Rosenstein and Mueller. Trump may have been moved to act, as he often does, on impulse, experiencing newfound sympathy for Libby’s plight that he imagines to be so much like his own. He may be especially focused on the obstruction report that, according to news accounts, Mueller is preparing for Rosenstein, who then has a complex decision to make about his authority to provide that report to the Congress or the public.
Then again, this action could also reflect a strategic move in the president’s legal defense. Trump’s lawyers may have thought that the president could improve on his expressions of personal pique by building his constitutional case against Mueller by taking this action now in the Libby case—by demonstrating that Trump will do what it takes, including using pardons, to bring special or independent counsels (or special prosecutors) under control and to remedy what Trump believes to be their abuses.
So Libby’s prospective pardon is not as much of an abrupt change of subject as it might appear. By this action in a totally unrelated matter, Trump may be looking to cloak in principle at some future time his exercise of the power of his office to protect himself.
From a criminal trial, yes. If it comes to impeachment, it only depends on whether or not the GOP can muster up the gumption to vote for conviction. Bauer also notes this:
The move resonates in other ways with the situation now facing the president. His preoccupation at the moment seems to be Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Following the raid on the offices of Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, the president’s objections to Rosenstein’s role have intensified. Apart from his natural anxiety about what befell his lawyer and what it means for him personally, Trump is intensely focused on what he perceives to be Rosenstein’s inadequate supervision of the special counsel. He has recently heard Alan Dershowitz’s judgment in public comments, and maybe in private conversations as well, that Rosenstein—presumably a witness in the obstruction investigation—should be subject to a recusal motion and removed from the supervision of the Russia matter.
Which leaves me with this piquant question: is there anyone competent to the position of supervising Mueller in the White House who isn’t a witness?
So why would Trump pardon him a decade later? Perhaps because this White House is determined to advance another petty political point.
Kellyanne Conway told reporters this morning, for example, that Scooter Libby may have been “the victim of a special counsel gone amok.”
Left unsaid was the obvious point that Trump World sees itself as a victim of a special counsel gone amok, offering us another example of this president using his pardon authority as an instrument of political messaging.
Nicole Wallace (on The Rachel Maddow Show) of MSNBC is paraphrased:
Trump conditioning public with pardon of Scooter Libby
Activities which will condition thoughtful independents to be inclined against Trump, but would please his base inordinately, appealing to their sentiment of being under attack by the forces of evil. Don’t underestimate this urge, as it’s an emotional underpinning to the entire Trump movement, and it takes an effort to break free of it, evaluate Trump objectively, and leave the movement that has become your emotional home.
Valerie Plame, who was the agent outed by those leaks for which Libby was convicted in court, as reported by Politico:
Plame, appearing on MSNBC on Friday, suggested that Trump is telegraphing a message to Manafort and other aides, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who are also key figures in the Russia investigation.
There’s a moral dimension to the Mueller investigation, which I believe Trump and his supporters are attempting to obscure – much to their discredit. Mueller isn’t investigating insipid technicalities, he’s been asked to investigate whether the activities of Trump during the Presidential campaign have left the Republic endangered.
This message needs to be conveyed to Manafort, Flynn, and the rest – a reminder that whatever they may believe, their first duty is to honestly come forth with answers to Mueller’s questions. Failing this relatively low hurdle, at this governmental level they become traitors to the United States. A pardon may be a hollow comfort for them.
CNN’s Chris Cillizza has 5 possible reasons Trump pardoned Scooter. I like #1:
1. He wants to send a message about out-of-control special prosecutors
Libby was charged and convicted as the result of a probe by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. Libby allies argued that Fitzgerald was far too aggressive and ventured too far afield in his pursuit of Libby.
A special counsel who is overstepping? Sound familiar?
Just in case you missed the message, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is here to help. “Many people think that Scooter Libby was a victim of a special counsel gone amok,” said Conway in a Friday interview with Fox News.
In pardoning Libby, Trump can send a very clear message about how he feels about special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. (As if anyone living on planet Earth hadn’t received that message before.) He can also send a more subtle message about his willingness to step into the breach for those who he believes have been unfairly persecuted by a special prosecutor.
Which leads me to the inevitable question: should a special prosecutor ever not be out of control of his nominal superiors when the prosecutor is investigating them?
But there is definitely a theme here.
I suppose all of Mueller’s victims deserve pardons too, don’t they? Of course they do.
On the subject of Libby, however, I’ll offer up this hot take: he was basically just a spear carrier for his boss, Vice President Dick Cheney. As long as Cheney is walking around free, I don’t really have a big problem with pardoning the fall guy.
Good point. Cheney, and for that matter his family, remain convinced of the necessity of torturing human beings and thus violating the international laws of warfare, which in my mind apply regardless of whether your opponents are also bound by them. Psychologically, of course, they have very little choice; it would take an extraordinary human being to deny the will and choices of their patriarch in matters of this great of importance, especially given the monumental consequences of such a denial, if not to his person, then at least to his honor – and for those around him.
I haven’t run across much of anything from the conservative side of the spectrum, which is not unexpected given the timing of the pardon, the strike on Syria, and the fact we’re barely 24 hours since the announcement. If I see anything of interest, I’ll relay it along. I expect it’ll be Happy Days for them, but we shall see if any of them can rise above party or movement loyalty.
Oh, and myself? I remember little of the matter except he was convicted in open court. The outing of a spy is an extremely serious matter, and since Trump admitted he’s not familiar with the matter himself, I think this is another blot of dishonor on his legacy.
