Pardons ex-Dubya aide Libby for same thing
The Russia probe has already resulted in 22 indictments, including four former Trump campaign officials, and five plea deals.
The office, home and hotel room of Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, were raided by the FBI earlier in the week.
The White House said that the pardon wasn’t intended as a message to Mueller or anyone who may be a target of his team.
“One thing has nothing to do with the other,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “Every case should be reviewed on their own merit.”
Libby was convicted of one count of obstruction, two counts of perjury and one count of lying to the FBI about how he learned Plame’s identity and whom he told about the agent.
He was set to serve 30 months in jail, but Bush commuted his sentence. Bush refused to grant him a full pardon, however, leading to a rift with Cheney.
Libby was required to pay a $250,000 fine and remained on probation for two years. He also lost his law license in 2008, which was reinstated in 2016.
“My family and I are immensely grateful to President Trump for his gracious decision to grant a pardon,” Libby said in a statement provided to Axios. “For over a dozen years we have suffered under the weight of a terrible injustice. To his great credit, President Trump recognized this wrong and would not let it persist. For this honorable act, we shall forever be grateful.”
Libby’s lawyer, Victoria Toensing — who, along with her husband, recently flirted with joining the President’s legal team — said the President told her, “I’ve heard about him a long time and he got screwed.”
Toensing told the Associated Press that she submitted the pardon papers for Libby to the White House counsel’s office last summer.
Both Cheney and former President George W. Bush issued statements praising the pardon.
“Scooter Libby is one of the most capable, principled, and honorable men I have ever known,” Cheney said. “He is innocent, and he and his family have suffered for years because of his wrongful conviction.”
Comey — who at the time was serving as deputy attorney general — was the one who appointed a special prosecutor in the Plame case.
Trump fired Comey last year from his post atop the FBI, setting up Mueller’a appointment.
Comey describes Trump as unethical and “untethered to truth” a highly critical book set to be released next week.
Trump painted Comey as a “LIAR & LEAKER” in a tweet Friday.
Trump has granted two other pardons to date.
He granted one last year for former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was awaiting sentencing for contempt of court. He also pardoned a U.S. Navy sailor who was convicted after taking photos of classified portions of a submarine.