Lewis Libby

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Lewis Libby (before 2006)

Irving Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. (born August 22, 1950 in New Haven , Connecticut ) is an American lawyer and politician ( Republican Party ). He was most recently Chief of Staff to US Vice President Dick Cheney in the Executive Office until he was charged and resigned on October 28, 2005 for repeated perjury and unofficial false testimony in the context of the Plame affair .

In March 2007, he was found guilty of this and obstruction of justice by a jury in Washington, DC and sentenced to 30 months in prison in June 2007. In early July 2007, he received a partial pardon from US President George W. Bush , who released him from prison. In April 2018, Libby was fully pardoned by President Donald Trump .

Career

education

Lewis Libby studied political science at Yale University , where Paul Wolfowitz was one of his teachers. He successfully completed his studies in 1972. In 1975 he graduated from Columbia University with a law degree .

His children are Hal Libby and Ricki Libby.

Professional career

After completing his studies , Libby initially worked as a lawyer in Philadelphia . In 1981 he followed the call of his former teacher Wolfowitz to Washington, where he initially served on the planning staff of the State Department . After 1985 he left the civil service to work as a lawyer.

During the tenure of President Bill Clinton (1993-2001) Libby was again active in Washington. He acted as legal advisor to several congressional committees , including the so-called Cox Committee , which dealt with issues of military and economic security vis-à-vis China .

During this time he was also known as a contributor to the Project for the New American Century .

From 1995 to 2001 he worked as a managing partner in the law firm Dechert, Price & Rhoads . During this time, one of his successes was the pardon of his client Marc Rich by President Clinton towards the end of his tenure.

After President Bush's election victory in 2000, Vice President-elect Cheney appointed Libby as his chief of staff. He followed the call and took office in January 2001. He was seen as the leading head of the pro-Israel lobby.

various

In 1996 he published the novel The Apprentice , which is said to be based on his experience as an employee of the State Department. His wife Harriet Grant served as legal counsel for the Judiciary Committee of the US Senate operates. For his professional activity he received various medals and awards.

Involvement in the Plame affair

The CIA secret agent Valerie Plame was named in an article by columnist Robert Novak and thus exposed. Such exposure by CIA secret agents has been a criminal offense in the USA since 1982 under certain circumstances. The exposure is generally interpreted as a kind of act of revenge by the Bush administration, since her husband, an ex-diplomat, published a critical article on the reasons for the Iraq war in the New York Times . It has been established that people close to the Bush administration later leaked information about his wife's intelligence activities to various major US media outlets, including the Washington Post .

Novak himself could make credible that he had acted in good faith, so he had not fulfilled the criminal offense. The investigation then turned to Novak's informants. The public prosecutor brought charges against Libby, not because the original suspicion had been substantiated, but because, in the opinion of the public prosecutor, Libby had been guilty of thwarting the criminal offense and had repeatedly given false statements on oath and under oath.

Conviction for perjury

On March 6, 2007 the verdict was passed against Libby. The jury found him guilty on four counts of five counts - he was found guilty of perjury on two counts, one of thwarting prosecutions, and one case of undecided false statements to law enforcement officers. The catalog of penalties for these offenses does not contain a minimum, but also allows maximum sentences of 25 years and fines of up to one million dollars. On June 5, 2007, Libby was found guilty by Washington court and sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment, a fine of $ 250,000 and a two-year suspended sentence.

After Libby's request to delay serving his sentence was rejected on July 2, 2007, President Bush overturned the sentence on the grounds that it was "excessive." The judgment itself remained valid, which meant that Libby could no longer work as a lawyer. At the end of his tenure, George W. Bush did not want to pardon Libby, despite strong pressure from Cheney.

In April 2018, President Trump issued a full pardon for Libby.

reception

Libby plays a role in the film Fair Game - Nothing is more dangerous than the truth that covers the Plame affair.

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Press release from the public prosecutor's office of October 28, 2005 ( Memento of October 28, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (English, PDF; 153 kB); Indictment against Lewis Libby ( Memento of October 28, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (English, PDF; 153 kB).
  2. ↑ Carol D. Leonnig, Amy Goldstein: Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Case. In: The Washington Post , March 7, 2007.
  3. ↑ Carol D. Leonnig, Amy Goldstein: Libby Given 21/2-Year Prison Term. In: The Washington Post , June 6, 2007.
  4. ^ The Final Insult in the Bush-Cheney Marriage. In: The New York Times , October 13, 2013.
  5. ↑ John Wagner, Joshua Dawsey, Philip Rucker: Trump issues pardon to Scooter Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney. In: The Washington Post , April 13, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Libby, Lewis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Libby, Irving Lewis (full name); Libby, Scooter (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH 22nd August 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH New Haven , Connecticut