White House on Libby Pardon
From the December 10th White House Press Briefing:
Q Scooter Libby dropped his appeal in the CIA leak case. How will that affect whether the President issues a pardon for him?
MS. PERINO: Well, we never comment on whether or not the President will be granting or not granting pardons to anybody. So I'm not able to comment.
Q So it's still an open question?
MS. PERINO: Well, you know, if he chooses to pursue a pardon, there is that route. And of course the Constitution provides the President the powers of the pardon. And we just cannot speculate, as we don't on any possible pardons.
Q Okay. Well, now that the appeal -- there is no longer any appeal, can you speak to what the President thinks about Scooter Libby disclosing the name of a CIA official?
MS. PERINO: I did not have a chance to talk to -- chance to speak to the President after this announcement was made this morning, and so I don't have his immediate reaction. He gave a lengthy statement in July in regards to the commutation and so I'll have to refer you to that for now.
Q But he didn't talk about what Scooter Libby had actually done in that --
MS. PERINO: And as I said, I haven't spoken to the President about it, so I'm not able to provide you anything else at this moment.
Q Is he expected to do pardons during the Christmas break?
MS. PERINO: I have to give the same answer, which is we don't speculate on any possible pardons.
Q Scooter Libby dropped his appeal in the CIA leak case. How will that affect whether the President issues a pardon for him?
MS. PERINO: Well, we never comment on whether or not the President will be granting or not granting pardons to anybody. So I'm not able to comment.
Q So it's still an open question?
MS. PERINO: Well, you know, if he chooses to pursue a pardon, there is that route. And of course the Constitution provides the President the powers of the pardon. And we just cannot speculate, as we don't on any possible pardons.
Q Okay. Well, now that the appeal -- there is no longer any appeal, can you speak to what the President thinks about Scooter Libby disclosing the name of a CIA official?
MS. PERINO: I did not have a chance to talk to -- chance to speak to the President after this announcement was made this morning, and so I don't have his immediate reaction. He gave a lengthy statement in July in regards to the commutation and so I'll have to refer you to that for now.
Q But he didn't talk about what Scooter Libby had actually done in that --
MS. PERINO: And as I said, I haven't spoken to the President about it, so I'm not able to provide you anything else at this moment.
Q Is he expected to do pardons during the Christmas break?
MS. PERINO: I have to give the same answer, which is we don't speculate on any possible pardons.
posted by P.S. Ruckman, Jr. | 8:02 PM
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