The Pardon Battle

The moment the Libby verdict came down, Dem leaders were immediately demanding that Bush vow not to pardon Libby, while many on the other side have been calling for an immediate pardon. It's become quite a fight:

WASHINGTON, March 7 — If some people imagined a verdict in the criminal trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. would calm the political passions surrounding his fate, they may have forgotten two words with a combustible history: presidential pardon.

The 11 jurors had barely pronounced Mr. Libby guilty of obstruction of justice and perjury on Tuesday when a new donnybrook broke out.

“Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct,” declared Senator Harry Reid, the Senate majority Leader, a stance echoed by other Congressional Democrats, editorial writers and bloggers on the left.

On the right, The Wall Street Journal thundered in an editorial today, “The time for a pardon is now” — a point of view shared by The Weekly Standard, The National Review and conservative admirers and friends of Mr. Libby. Many of the calls for his pardon demanded immediate action, instead of a wait for appeals to wend their way through the courts.

President Bush has avoided comment on the pardon question, telling an interviewer today from the Spanish-language version of CNN that in view of Mr. Libby’s plans to seek a new trial and, if necessary, to appeal his conviction, “it’s inappropriate for me, or the administration, to be issuing comments about this serious matter.”

As on Tuesday, the president added an expression of sympathy. “On a personal note, I was sad,” the president said. “I was sad for a man who had worked in my administration, and particularly sad for his family.”

Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, did not rule out an eventual pardon for Mr. Libby, who served from 2001 until his indictment in October 2005 as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

“As we pointed out before, there is a process, you know, and it’s available to anybody who has been convicted in the United States,” Mr. Snow said.

The president will likely ignore both sides in this argument for right now. He definitely won't rule out a pardon (as evidenced by Tony Snow's statement), nor is he likely to issue one in the near future. Libby is still free on bail and with another nearly two years to go in the Bush administration, a pardon at this time would probably kill any plans or programs the president hoped to achieve during the remainder of his term. However, should Libby be immediately ordered to prison, the president might feel he has to step in to right what appears to be a judicial wrong.

Bob Novak, a central character in this whole sorry episode, is calling for Bush to have the courage to issue a quick pardon. If nothing else, it might shut Joe Wilson up and the ensuing fireworks would keep us bloggers busy for months.

I believe a pardon will be issued, but likely not until either Libby is ordered to prison, or as Bush's term draws to a close.