Libby came under scrutiny in connection with the leak in 2003 of the identity of Plame, who had worked undercover overseas and was married to a prominent Bush administration critic, Joseph Wilson.
Libby, former Vice President **** Cheney’s chief of staff, was never charged with leaking, but was indicted in 2005 on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements to investigators, largely for denying his contacts with the media about Plame.
Trump so far has used his pardon power sparingly, but he did grant one in August to Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff who aggressively campaigned for Trump during the 2016 election. Arpaio had been found guilty of defying another federal judge's order to end ethnic profiling of Latinos.
There has been intense speculation, however, over whether Trump may pardon any of his aides facing charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, particularly former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who has so far refused to cooperate with Mueller’s probe.
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 key figures in the Russia investigation.
“This is definitely not about me. It's absolutely not about Scooter Libby. This is about Donald Trump and his future,” Plame said before the formal announcement hit. “It's very clear that this is a message he's sending that you can commit crimes against national security and you will be pardoned, so I think he's got an audience of three right now. That would be Manafort, Flynn and Kushner, and perhaps others.”
“The message being sent is you can commit perjury and I will pardon you if it protects me and I deem that you are loyal to me,” she added.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, also saw ulterior motives in a Libby pardon.
“On the day the President wrongly attacks Comey for being a ‘leaker and liar’ he considers pardoning a convicted leaker and liar, Scooter Libby,” Schiff tweeted on Friday. “This is the President’s way of sending a message to those implicated in the Russia investigation: You have my back and I‘ll have yours.”
The White House statement, in explaining Trump’s pardon decision, noted that a key witness against Libby recanted her testimony in 2015 and that the District of Columbia Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated Mr. Libby to the bar.
“His record since his conviction is similarly unblemished, and he continues to be held in high regard by his colleagues and peers,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the statement.
At a trial in 2007, a Washington, D.C., jury found Libby guilty on four of five felony counts. A judge sentenced the former Cheney aide to 2½ years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In the days that followed, Cheney pleaded with Bush to pardon Libby, but the president would not go that far. He did, however, grant Libby a commutation that allowed him to avoid prison.
Near the end of Bush’s presidency, Cheney made another bid to clear Libby’s record with a full pardon, but Bush again declined.
It was never clearly established whether Libby discussed or confirmed Plame’s CIA affiliation to journalists. However, during the investigation, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage acknowledged he confirmed Plame’s CIA connection to The Washington Post before any of Libby’s reported interactions with reporters on the subject. Armitage, who said he was unaware of Plame’s covert work with the CIA, cooperated with the investigation and was never charged.
The investigation was conducted by a special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, who also served as the U.S. Attorney in Chicago. After Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself because of the probe’s connections to the White House, Deputy Attorney General James Comey appointed Fitzgerald.
During and after the investigation, Libby’s allies complained that Fitzgerald charged Libby in order to justify the extensive probe into the leak. They also argued that it was unjust for Libby to have faced charges when the primary source of the leak, Armitage, never did.
One journalist who was forced to testify about his interactions with Libby, Matthew Cooper, then of Time magazine, said Trump’s consideration of a pardon for Libby was a way of lashing out at Comey, who is on a media blitz for his tell-all book about Trump.
“Recall Comey appointed CIA leak special counsel Pat Fitzgerald. This is a slap at Comey,” Cooper said on Twitter Thursday night.
Fitzgerald, now an attorney in private practice in Chicago, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
