Scooter: Pardon Me

Joe DiGenova, perpetual talking head and Bush administration trial balloonist, is putting out the word that Scooter Libby will be pardoned by President Bush.

"These are the kinds of cases in which historically presidents have given pardons," said the veteran Republican attorney.

The White House remains mum on the president's intentions. Spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to comment Friday.

Bush has powerful incentives to pardon Libby, however. They range from rewarding past loyalty to ending the awkward revelations emerging from pretrial motions, a flow that could worsen in his trial next year.

It would be in keeping with the mindset of this administration to pardon Mr. Libby; I'm actually surprised that it hasn't happened already. After all, the Rule of Law, which we heard so much about in 1999, applies to Everybody Else. But holding high-powered and connected Bush administration officials accountable for their misdeeds while in office? Not a chance. They never make mistakes, and when they do, they do it for the good of the nation, to preserve the status quo, to prevent evil-doers and prosecutors from digging into their lives.

As president, Bush has constitutional power to issue a pardon at any time -- even before a crime is charged. And presidents of both parties have pardoned political friends.

In 1974, for example, President Gerald Ford pardoned ex-President Richard Nixon for any crimes he might have committed. In 2001, President Bill Clinton pardoned convicted political friends as he left office.

You can be sure that if Bush pardons Libby, the righties will haul out their new best excuse for everything: Clinton Did It. The difference is that when Mr. Clinton pardoned such people as former Cabinet Secretary Henry Cisneros and Whitewater scapegoat Susan McDougal, they had already been through their trials; Ms. McDougal had even served time in shackles for refusing to commit perjury for Kenneth Starr. The Republicans have a tendency to act before the trial takes place -- Casper Weinberger was pardoned by the first President Bush just before he went on trial for Iran-Contra, and of course there's the famous example of President Ford pardoning Richard Nixon before charges were even brought up.

If Mr. Bush has any plans to pardon Scooter, chances are he will do it sometime in November, depending on the outcome of the mid-term elections.

If Republicans retain control of Congress, Bush could act swiftly. But if Democrats win control of the House or Senate, Bush might wait, and use Libby's trial as an excuse not to cooperate with any congressional investigations into the leak.

The counterargument to a pardon this year or next, however, is that it would be a political bombshell and distract from Bush's agenda.

What an interesting turn of events. The Republicans complain that the prosecution of Libby is the result of the "criminalization of policy differences," yet they have no problem with politicizing a criminal procedure.

IOKIYAR strikes again.

(HT to TPM.)