lily
03-20-2008, 07:10 PM
Now taking bets that a pardon is in the works......any takers? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032001757.html?hpid=topnews)
Cheney Ex-Aide 'Scooter' Libby Disbarred
Vice President's Former Chief of Staff Convicted of Lying to Investigators
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008; 11:59 AM
Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was
disbarred today by a District of Columbia court that ruled that his
convictions last year for perjury and obstructing justice in a White House
leak investigation disqualify him from practicing law.
Under the ruling by the D.C. Court of Appeals, Libby will lose his license
to practice or appear in court in Washington until at least 2012. As is
standard custom, he also would lose any bar membership he might hold in any
other states.
Libby was convicted of lying to the FBI and federal investigators about
whether he discussed the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame with
reporters in the spring and summer of 2003. At the time, according to
evidence presented at trial, Cheney had instructed Libby to talk to
reporters to rebut claims made by Plame's husband that the administration
had twisted intelligence to justify going to war with Iraq.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeals decided that the D.C. Code gave
it no choice on the decision. Libby has not disputed the D.C. Bar Counsel's
recommendation that he be disbarred.
"When a member of the Bar is convicted of an offense involving moral
turpitude, disbarment is mandatory," the judges wrote. "This court has held
that obstruction of justice and perjury are crimes of moral turpitude per
se."
Libby's disbarment is effective as of June 12, 2007, when he first filed a
declaration saying he would voluntarily comply with the court's rules on
professional ethics for lawyers. Libby, 57, could seek reinstatement to the
bar five years from that date, in June 2012.
Last July, a federal judge sentenced Libby to 30 months in jail. President
Bush commuted the sentence, calling it "excessive."
Cheney Ex-Aide 'Scooter' Libby Disbarred
Vice President's Former Chief of Staff Convicted of Lying to Investigators
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008; 11:59 AM
Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was
disbarred today by a District of Columbia court that ruled that his
convictions last year for perjury and obstructing justice in a White House
leak investigation disqualify him from practicing law.
Under the ruling by the D.C. Court of Appeals, Libby will lose his license
to practice or appear in court in Washington until at least 2012. As is
standard custom, he also would lose any bar membership he might hold in any
other states.
Libby was convicted of lying to the FBI and federal investigators about
whether he discussed the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame with
reporters in the spring and summer of 2003. At the time, according to
evidence presented at trial, Cheney had instructed Libby to talk to
reporters to rebut claims made by Plame's husband that the administration
had twisted intelligence to justify going to war with Iraq.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeals decided that the D.C. Code gave
it no choice on the decision. Libby has not disputed the D.C. Bar Counsel's
recommendation that he be disbarred.
"When a member of the Bar is convicted of an offense involving moral
turpitude, disbarment is mandatory," the judges wrote. "This court has held
that obstruction of justice and perjury are crimes of moral turpitude per
se."
Libby's disbarment is effective as of June 12, 2007, when he first filed a
declaration saying he would voluntarily comply with the court's rules on
professional ethics for lawyers. Libby, 57, could seek reinstatement to the
bar five years from that date, in June 2012.
Last July, a federal judge sentenced Libby to 30 months in jail. President
Bush commuted the sentence, calling it "excessive."