Bush Steps in to Save Libby From Prison

President George Bush created a political firestorm yesterday by intervening to stop the disgraced White House aide, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, from going to jail.

The president, in a lengthy statement, said the sentence imposed on Mr Libby, who was found guilty of perjury in a complex spy case linked to the Iraq war, was harsh.

Mr Bush, who made the statement after leaving a summit with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at Kennebunkport, Maine, said: "I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr Libby is excessive."

He was under pressure the US his vice-president, Dick Cheney, and from many other conservatives to commute the two-and-a-half year jail sentence imposed last month. When Mr Libby was sentenced, television and radio talk shows were inundated with calls of support for the former White House aide from Republicans.

Conservative commentators raged against the judge, Reggie Walton, and the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, and called on Mr Bush to act on behalf of a loyal servant. But Democrats and others yesterday accused Mr Bush of operating with double standards, protecting a convicted felon from jail because of his association with the White House.

Mr Bush's decision is likely to hurt his presidency further. With 19 months left in office, he has suffered the most consistently low poll ratings of almost any modern president, is running an unpopular war and last week, lost his last chance to bring in a major piece of domestic legislation, reform of the immigration law.

He commuted the jail sentence but did not grant Mr Libby a pardon. Mr Libby still faces a $250,00 (£125,00) fine and will remain on probation. "My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr Libby," the president said.

"The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely... The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant and private citizen will be long-lasting."

The White House move was prompted by a federal court decision earlier yesterday to allow Mr Libby to remain at home pending the outcome of an appeal. This would have meant that Mr Libby would have been heading for jail within the next few weeks. It was expected he would have served out his time in a minimum security jail in one of the states close to Washington DC, in Virginia, Maryland or New Jersey.

His strategy up until then appeared to be to string out the appeal until January 2009, in expectation of a pardon when Mr Bush left office. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the senate, described Mr Bush's action as "disgraceful".

Charles Schumer, a Democratic senator, echoed this: "As Independence Day nears, we're reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle."

But Republicans such as Fred Thompson, one of the frontrunners for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential race, welcomed it, noting Mr Libby's long service to the US.

The former US ambassador, Richard Carlson, who helped raise millions for Mr Libby's defence fund, said: "That's fantastic. It's a great relief. Scooter Libby did not deserve to go to prison and I'm glad the president had the courage to do this."

Mr Libby, who was Mr Cheney's chief of staff, was found guilty of obstructing a federal investigation into the outing of the covert CIA operative, Valerie Plame. The suspicion at the time, though never confirmed, was that the Bush administration exposed her to take revenge on her husband, Joe Wilson, a former ambassador. Mr Wilson had publicly dismissed as rubbish the president's claim that Iraq had been seeking uranium from Niger to build a nuclear weapon.

In his statement, Mr Bush said he had remained silent throughout the case until the legal process was exhausted. "But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision."

The president ran over the arguments for and against the sentence. He said some critics felt the punishment did not fit the crime because Mr Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service.

Others "argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable. They say that had Mr Libby only told the truth, he would have never been indicted in the first place," Mr Bush said.

But he added: "I have made my own evaluation. In preparing for the decision I am announcing today, I have carefully weighed these arguments and the circumstances surrounding this case."