Appeals court rejects Plame Wilson's case.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal appeals court in Washington has rebuffed an attempt by former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson to sue top administration officials for the public disclosure of her intelligence job.

An attorney for Wilson and her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, said an appeal is likely.

A three-judge panel rejected the attempt by the Wilsons to revive a lawsuit dismissed by a lower court. The Wilsons wanted to sue Vice President Richard Cheney; his former top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby; former White House advisor Karl Rove; and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

"Because the Wilsons have failed to state constitutional … claims for which relief may be granted and failed to exhaust their administrative remedies as required … we affirm the judgment of the district court dismissing the Wilsons' amended complaint in its entirety," the court said.

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Libby is dropping his appeal in the CIA leak case.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is dropping his appeal in the CIA leak case, his attorney said Monday.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction for lying about his conversations with reporters about outed CIA operative Valerie Plame.

"We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby's innocence," attorney Theodore Wells said. "However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear."

President Bush commuted Libby's 30-month jail sentence in July. Libby paid a $250,000 fine and must serve two years' probation. Libby remains a convicted felon, but Bush could issue a full pardon as his administration winds down.

Wells said he has not discussed a possible pardon with the president and does not know what Bush will do.

Libby was the only person charged in the investigation into the leak of Plame's identity. Nobody was charged with the leak itself, which Plame alleges was politically motivated. Her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, was a vocal critic of the Bush administration's war policy.

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Watch former Ambassador Wilson's interview with John Roberts.

(CNN) — The revelation by a former White House spokesman that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were "involved" in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson's identity shows how the White House "closed ranks" to protect themselves, her husband, Joe Wilson, said Wednesday.

The information — from an upcoming book by Scott McClellan — also shows how important it was to the administration to commute the sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Wilson said on CNN's "American Morning."

"I think it now makes it very clear the extent to which the vice president was involved, which, of course, then makes it very clear how important to the vice president the commutation of Mr. Libby's sentence was," the former U.S. ambassador said.

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McClellan was White House press secretary at the time of the CIA leak investigation.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - White House spokesman Scott Stanzel denied accusations leveled at President Bush Tuesday by former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan. The accusations flow from an excerpt released from McClellan’s forthcoming book where he blames the president and other high-ranking White House officials for prompting him to “unknowingly pass along false information” as it related to the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

“The President has not misled his spokespeople, nor would he,” Stanzel said in a statement.

–CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux

Scott McClellan with President Bush in 2006.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House is denying a claim in a new book by former White House spokesman Scott McClellan that top administration officials — including President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney — were involved in his "unknowingly" passing along false information about the involvement of Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

Amid a burgeoning controversy about the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's name, McClellan went to the White House podium in October 2003 and told reporters that Rove, the president's top political adviser, and Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, had not been involved.

"There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes in his new book, "What Happened," which is scheduled to be released in April. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."

Reacting to the release of an excerpt from McClellan's book, which was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the book's publisher, PublicAffairs, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said, "The president has not misled his spokespeople, nor would he."

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U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald

CHICAGO (CNN) – The straight-laced, gray-suited, famously reticent lawman, who convinced a jury to find "Scooter" Libby guilty of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents before President Bush commuted his sentence, had a harder time clearing himself from a game show hot seat Thursday night in Chicago, as he braved a relentless satirical barrage during a taping of the NPR news-quiz show "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me."

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for Illinois' Northern District, good-naturedly plopped himself on the set of the show and played along with a pun-filled grilling from host Peter Sagel, in the show's regular segment "Not My Job." In the segment, celebrities attempt to answer trivia questions about topics outside their expertise.

But before he got to that, Sagel tried to bait Fitzgerald out of his prosecutorial rectitude with a series of loaded questions, to no avail.

In the best bit, Sagel asked Fitzgerald where he lived, and how he got to work, finishing with the punch line, "How do you like commuting?" The standing-room-only crowd in Chicago — the town which both the show and Fitzgerald call home — laughed at the reference to President Bush's commutation of Libby's sentence, clearly hoping for Fitzgerald to take the bait. But, Fitzgerald played the straight man, "I like driving."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Earlier today, a federal trial court judge dismissed the civil lawsuit filed by former CIA employee Valerie Plame and her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson.

Judge John Bates explained in his ruling on Thursday that he was dismissing the couple’s suit because special considerations counseled against allowing them to pursue monetary damages against Vice President Cheney, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and Richard Armitage.

First, Bates concluded that the couple could not sue for the disclosure of Plame’s identity because it appeared Congress had not intended that federal employees in Plame’s situation could recover damages against the federal government or its officials. Second, Bates dismissed the lawsuit because allowing it to proceed would likely cause “judicial intrusion into matters of national security” – matters which the Executive branch of the federal government has unique authority over. Finally, Bates noted that the couple had not filed the required administrative claim before coming to court. (Full ruling here)

The couple was seeking monetary damages because of the disclosure of Plame’s identity as a covert CIA operative. They have alleged that Plame was outed by the Bush administration as a consequence of Wilson’s criticism of the White House’s justifications for going to war in Iraq.

– CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

A judge threw out the lawsuit by ex-spy Valerie Plame Wilson and husband Joseph Wilson.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by outed spy Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband against Vice President Dick Cheney and other top Bush administration officials.

U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled that the lawsuit raises "important questions relating to the propriety of actions undertaken by our highest government officials" — but in a 41-page decision, Bates found the Wilsons failed to show the case belongs in federal court.

Valerie Wilson's identity as a CIA operative was exposed in July 2003 after her husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly challenged a key argument in the Bush administration's case for the invasion of Iraq.

The exposure led to a criminal probe that led to the conviction in March of Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents investigating the leak.

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President Bush answers reporters' questions about Iraq Thursday during a White House news conference.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush on Thursday called the commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence a "fair and balanced decision" and said "it's been a tough issue for a lot of people in the White House."

So, Bush said, "it's run its course and now we're going to move on."

"I haven't spent a lot of time talking about the testimony that people throughout my administration were forced to give as a result of the special prosecutor," Bush said.

"I didn't ask them during the time and I haven't asked them since. I’m aware of the fact that, perhaps, somebody in the administration did disclose the name of that person.

"You know, I've often thought about what had happened if that person come forth and said, I did it. Would we have had this, you know, endless hours of investigation and a lot of money being spent on this matter?"

Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, with two years supervised release and a $250,000 fine, when he was convicted earlier this year of perjury and obstruction of justice during an investigation into the leak of the name of a CIA operative.

Bush determined the 30-month sentence was "excessive" and commuted the prison term on July 2, while specifically saying that the supervised release and fine should remain in effect.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers exhorted President Bush Monday to allow top aides to explain to Congress why Bush commuted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence.

In a letter to Bush on Monday, Conyers said the commutation was troubling and could eliminate Libby's incentive to provide information about the administration's role in leaking the identity
of former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson. Libby, who was a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for obstructing justice in a federal probe of the leak.

Bush, calling the sentence excessive, used his executive authority last week to commute the sentence, sparing Libby from prison. Conyers, D-Mich., urged Bush "to waive Executive Privilege and provide the relevant documents and testimony of any relevant aides regarding your decision to commute Mr. Libby's sentence."

The congressman said that his committee on Wednesday will hold a hearing to "explore the grave questions that arise when the Presidential clemency power is used to erase criminal penalties for high-ranking executive branch employees whose offenses relate to their work for the President."

Conyers acknowledged that President Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, whose ex-wife was a major Clinton campaign donor. But Clinton waived executive privilege and allowed top aides to testify before Congress about that matter, Conyers noted in his letter. The White House did not have an immediate response to the letter.

A majority of Americans disapprove of Libby's commutation, according to a new poll.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A majority of Americans and nearly half of all Republicans disapprove of President Bush’s commutation of Lewis "Scooter" Libby’s 30-month prison sentence, according to a new American Research Group poll out Friday.

Fully 64 percent of all Americans and 69 percent of voters said they disapproved of the commutation in the new poll. Broken down by party affiliation, 76 percent of Democrats, 47 percent of Republicans, and 80 percent of Independents said they disapproved.

Meanwhile, 84 percent of all adults and 84 percent of voters said they oppose a full presidential pardon for Libby. Broken down by party, 82 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of Republicans, and 97 percent of Independents oppose a pardon.

Defending his decision to grant Libby clemency, Bush indicated on Tuesday he hasn't ruled out granting the former White House aide a full pardon.

"I made a judgment, a considered judgment, and I believe it's the right decision to make in this case. I stand by it," Bush said. "As to the future, I rule nothing in and nothing out," he said as he left a visit to Walter Reed Medical Center.

Libby's prison time was imposed after a federal court convicted Libby of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in the probe of the leak of the name of a CIA operative.

A commutation is distinct from a pardon, which is a complete eradication of a conviction record and makes it the same as if the person has never been convicted.

The poll, conducted on July 3-5, interviewed 1,100 adults and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

– CNN Political Researcher Xuan Thai

Libby paid his $250,000 fine Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A quarter-million dollar fine that Lewis "Scooter" Libby paid Thursday was the most substantial element remaining from his conviction in March on federal charges that included perjury and obstruction of justice.

President Bush on Monday commuted Libby's 30-month sentence, and in light of that, the trial judge says he does not know whether Libby must still serve supervised probation. In addition, Libby had been ordered to serve 400 hours of community service, not yet specified, and the status of that also is unclear.

Bush declined to set aside the $250,000 fine imposed by U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who had been adamant that Libby serve time for lying to investigators looking into the possible leak of classified material dating back to 2003.

A court document filed Thursday shows Libby obtained a cashier's check Monday, the same day as Bush's decision to keep him out of prison. The check, drawn on a bank near Libby's home in McLean, Va., includes the quarter-million dollar fine and the court's special assessment of $400.

The court's receipt is dated Thursday, and includes a photocopy of the check filed in the public record of the case.

Walton has asked Libby's defense team and prosecutors to file documents by July 9 with their positions on how he should handle the probation matter. In his order, he wrote that the clemency law Bush used in commuting Libby's sentence does not address how to establish post-confinement probation for someone who hasn't been behind bars.

– CNN Producer Paul Courson

The Clintons are campaigning in Iowa this week.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — White House spokesman Tony Snow fired back Thursday at Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband after former President Bill Clinton charged at a campaign stop that the Bush administration believes the law is a "minor obstacle" in the wake of the commutation controversy.

"I don't know what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it," Snow told reporters in an off-camera briefing.

Snow took the shot at the Clintons after again being pressed by reporters about President Bush's decision to commute the 30-month prison sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby and leave the door open to a future pardon.

Asked about House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers' plan to probe the Libby commutation, Snow snapped that the congressman should "knock himself out," but also probe the slew of pardons granted at the end of the Clinton administration.

In an op-ed piece in USA Today Thursday, Snow defended Mr. Bush's action by charging that Mr. Clinton was "in a mad rush to push through pardons with dizzying haste” — 141 grants on Clinton's final day in office, part of 211 in the final nine weeks.

Asked by a reporter if he was asserting that "two wrongs make a right" and thus it was okay for Mr. Bush to abuse his power, Snow said: "Do we feel we've done wrong? Do we feel we cut corners? The answer is no."

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Former President Clinton takes a break from the campaign trail in Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — Former President Bill Clinton blasted his successor's decision to spare ex-White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby from prison, telling Iowa radio listeners that Libby's case differed from his own administration's pardon controversy.

"You've got to understand, this is consistent with their philosophy," Clinton said during an interview on Des Moines news-talk station WHO. Bush administration officials, he said, "believe that they should be able to do what they want to do, and that the law is a minor obstacle."

Clinton was impeached in 1998 over perjury allegations stemming from his sexual relationship with a White House intern, but the Senate acquitted him. And a flurry of last-minute pardons issued as he left office in 2001 — particularly his absolution of fugitive financier Marc Rich — sparked largely partisan outrage. Critics alleged that the pardon of Rich was linked to contributions raised for Clinton's presidential library by Rich's ex-wife.

Libby's defenders have pointed to Democratic support for Clinton during that period to accuse critics of Bush's clemency order of hypocrisy.

"Wasn't it Bill Clinton that was handing out pardons like lollipops at the end of his administration?" former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, now seeking the Republican presidential nomination, told supporters in Iowa on Tuesday. "And isn't there some recognition that perhaps you might look a little silly if you didn't have anything to say when he was handing out pardon after pardon after pardon for political purposes only?"

But the former president said, "I think the facts were different."

"It's wrong to out that CIA agent, and wrong to try to cover it up — and wrong that no one was ever fired from the White House for doing it," he said.

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Bush said Tuesday he hasn't ruled out pardoning Libby.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush said Tuesday he wouldn't rule in or out a full pardon for former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, after having commuted his 30-month prison sentence Monday.

The president's comments came as he left the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he had been visiting military personnel wounded in the Iraq war.

White House spokesman Tony Snow also discussed the possibility of a pardon in the daily White House briefing.

"There is always a possibility or there's an avenue open for anybody to petition for consideration of a pardon," Snow told reporters. "As far as we know, that's not been done, and we don't know if it's contemplated by Scooter Libby or his defense team."

"The reason I will say I'm not going to close the door on a pardon is simply this: that Scooter Libby may petition for one. But the president has done what he thinks is appropriate to resolve this case," Snow said.

The tumultuous briefing, punctuated by pointed questions from reporters and repeated explanations by Snow, came a day after the president's announcement sparked an uproar by critics claiming the move was another example of the Bush administration believing that it is above the law.

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Watch Wilson's interview Tuesday on CNN's American Morning.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush's decision to spare I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from prison puts Bush himself under suspicion of a cover-up in the CIA leak case, the husband of the operative whose name was leaked said Tuesday.

"The president, by commuting Mr. Libby's sentence, has guaranteed that he will be under no incentive whatsoever to tell the truth," Joseph Wilson said on CNN's "American Morning." "I think there is a very real suspicion now that the president himself is an accessory to obstruction of justice in this matter."

Bush on Monday commuted the former White House aide's 30-month prison term. He left a $250,000 fine and two years' probation in place on Libby's sentence imposed after he was convicted in federal court of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in the probe of the 2003 leak of the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife.

Full story

Biden campaigned in Iowa Monday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (CNN) — Joe Biden kicked off his Fourth of July swing through Iowa with a harsh rebuke of the Bush administration’s conduct on international and domestic fronts.

The 2008 Democratic hopeful railed against the president’s decision to commute the prison sentence of former administration aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

“That is what you might call tone-deaf or brain-dead. One of the two,” Biden told the Iowa City audience. “When the war is going to hell in a handbasket , when our leadership around the world is literally on the balls of its heels instead of engaging in any uniting effort to bring the country together what does he do? He takes one of the most controversial political stands he could do to enrage the country. This is an administration beyond redemption in my view.”

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Washington was quick to react to the Libby commutation Monday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Following are reactions to President Bush's announcement Monday that he has commuted the sentence of former vice presidential chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby:

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WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of former White House Lewis “Scooter” Libby marks the fourth time the president has exercised his power to reduce criminal sentences. Here’s where the president stands compared to other modern presidents, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice.

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I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal appeals court Monday rejected former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby's request to remain free on appeal after his March conviction on federal charges stemming from the leak of a CIA agent's identity.

Libby, once Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, faces a 30-month prison term after being convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal agents probing the 2003 exposure of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, whose husband had become a critic of the war in Iraq.

A three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals found Libby has not raised a question for judges "that is 'close' or that 'could very well be decided the other way'" — the standard for remaining free on appeal.

Barring further appeals, Libby's term will start when the U.S. Bureau of Prisons decides where he will serve his time and sets a date for him to surrender. But his lawyers may appeal Monday's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which rarely intervenes in these kinds of cases.

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