In today's White House press briefing, Tony Snow was asked about Border Patrol agents requesting commutation in light of Bush's decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby. The following exchange occurred:
Q Tony, you noted this morning that the sentences in the Border Patrol case were within the federal sentencing guidelines. They also were in the Libby case. So those guidelines are not a hurdle around here?
MR. SNOW: Well, actually -- no, if you take a look, actually, there is some dispute in legal circles about what the proper boundaries were for the sentencing in the Libby case. And I'll leave it at that. I'll leave it to the lawyers --
Q No one recommended no jail time.
MR. SNOW: On the other hand, there are differing benchmarks there for the use of it. What you do have is you've got probation, you've got a $250,000 fine. That's a significant punishment.
Q Is it the administration's position that the sentence in that case was beyond the federal sentencing guidelines?
MR. SNOW: Again, I will -- I'm not going to try to get myself into the legal cases, but you've seen arguments on both sides. I think if you took a look at the court papers -- I'm not going to try to fob myself off as a lawyer on this. I'll let the lawyers argue over it.
Judge Reggie Walton recently shared his frustrations over Bush's claim that Libby's sentence was excessive, stating he was "perplexed." He utilized established legal precedents and the federal sentence guidelines in determining the punishment for Libby. The 30-month prison term was actually at the low end of the sentencing guidelines.
"Indeed, only recently the president's attorney general called for the passage of legislation to 'restore the binding nature of the sentencing guidelines so that the bottom of the recommended sentencing range would be a minimum for judges, not merely a suggestion,'" Walton wrote.
The White House's comments from today are patently false. There was NO DISPUTE in the sentencing guidelines, and it is incredibly disingenuous for the White House to claim there was. The only dispute is that the White House wants one set of rules for itself and its cronies and another set of rules for everybody else.
Melissa, you forgot one thing: IOKIYAR. Remember, that explains everything.
Posted by: John Morgan | July 20, 2007 at 06:05 PM
M, Tony Snow wouldn't know the truth if it bit him on the nose -- and, if he did, it would kill him to say it. He's not the White House spokesman. He's The Official White House Prevaricator.
Posted by: Lee Levan | July 21, 2007 at 09:47 AM