Bush commutes sentence for former Cheney aide

Washington - US President George W Bush on Monday lifted the 30-month prison term of Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, who was convicted over the leak of a CIA agent's identity. Bush commuted the sentence of I Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, but left Libby's 250,000-dollar fine and two years of probation intact. Bush said he had 'concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.' 'My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr Libby,' Bush said in a statement, stopping short of the full pardon demanded by many Republicans. Libby was convicted in March on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators looking into the leak, which touched off a political scandal reaching to the White House. A US district judge in June refused to let him remain free pending appeal, increasing pressure by conservatives for Bush to help Libby. The case centred on whether Libby, 56, lied to a grand jury and to FBI investigators probing whether the US administration intentionally leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame to retaliate for her husband's criticism of the Iraq war. Libby was not charged with leaking Plame's name to the media but with hampering the probe into who did. He resigned in 2005 after being indicted. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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I.P. FreelyJul 2nd, 2007 - 23:43:53

This is the most criminal administration in history. George Bush personifies the corruption and fraud that has destroyed America. Ohio hang your head in shame you voted this idiot back in to power. What will it take for people to wake up, the destruction of the planet? oh yeah he's doing that too. Arnie for president I say

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Bush commutes sentence for former Cheney aide

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