Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today issued the following statement in response to President Bush’s decision to commute the prison sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney:
“President Bush’s decision to commute Scooter Libby’s prison sentence is shocking and highly inappropriate. From a secret program that eavesdropped on Americans without a warrant to efforts to expose a CIA agent as part of a campaign of political retaliation, at every turn this administration has shown a level of contempt for our system of justice that is Nixonian in its scope and impact. At a time when the Bush administration’s commitment to justice is in serious doubt, for the President to choose to overrule the decision of a judge in a court of law to protect a political ally is a telling statement that he and his advisors simply believe themselves to be above the law.”
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