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Libby and Border Agents Should Be Pardoned E. Ralph Hostetter One wonders what was the real motive in the very aggressive prosecution of a witness in a case where no crime had been committed and no other person was singled out — not even the one responsible for the alleged crime in the first place. What led, finally, to the conviction of "Scooter" Libby began nearly four years before when nationally known columnist Robert Novak identified Valerie Plame as a CIA "operative" in his column. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, an administrative assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted on four counts of perjury on Tuesday, March 6, 2007, in Washington, D.C. Was it a case against phantom criminals, named repeatedly in the dominant media or was it another "witch hunt" to entrap anyone the political publicity net could capture? The real falsehoods seemed to rest with "victims" in a trumped-up case of "political spycraft" and a Mickey Mouse "cloak and dagger mystery." Novak revealed that "senior administration officials" were the source of his story exposing a "covert" CIA agent, Valerie Plame. A flurry of news articles followed, speculating on the person or persons believed to be those who would perform such a traitorous act. The usual suspects were named. Could it be President Bush himself? If not, it was certainly Vice President Cheney. Failing that, it most certainly was Karl Rove. All were big fish. The smell of blood was in the water. A special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, took over and began issuing subpoenas to find and convict the dastardly criminals who dared place a "covert" CIA agent's life on the line. Story Continues Below
On Sept. 7, 2006, three years after the investigation started, Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state, an administration member who opposed the war, admitted he was the one who leaked the name of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative to the media. It should be noted that Armitage was never charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, a penitentiary offense. Nor was he further implicated in Grand Jury proceedings or the trial. Yet, it was he who put into motion what became nothing more than a political "witch hunt" leading to what many believe to be a wrongful conviction of a sacrificial scapegoat, "Scooter" Libby. Dennis Collins, one of the jurors, said after the trial, "The jurors were not happy after this was done. There was no congratulating. There was no 'way to go' for coming back with guilty verdicts." Was this reminiscent of another prosecutorial overreach trial in late 2006 when two U.S. Border Patrol agents, Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, were convicted? U.S. District Attorney Johnny Sutton invoked U.S. Code 18, Section 924(c), a provision of the law which would add another 10 years to any sentence given by the presiding judge. Some jurors in this case believed they had no choice but to deliver a guilty verdict. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone, having presided over the trial, decided the two Border Patrol agents deserved light sentences of one year for Compean and two years for Ramos. But is was impossible for her to reduce the 10-year, mandatory, consecutive sentence mandated by federal law by U.S. Code 18, Section 924(c). The Border Patrol agents had been convicted on the testimony of a drug smuggler who had abandoned his van on the border with 700 pounds of marijuana and escaped back to Mexico. He was brought back by the prosecuting district attorney and given immunity in order to gain his testimony against the two Border Patrol agents. In addition, District Attorney Johnny Sutton opened the door for the drug smuggling criminal, Aldrete-Davila, to sue the two Border Patrol agents for $5 million. The question of presidential pardons has been raised in both the Border Patrol agents cases and the "Scooter" Libby case. A pardon for the Border Patrol agents has not advanced to date despite the fact that the Border Patrol agents' lives may be in danger, inasmuch as they are incarcerated in the same prison as are convicted illegal aliens. One of the Border Patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos, was severely beaten recently by another inmate. A pardon for "Scooter" Libby seems more imminent. At least one heavyweight has weighed in. Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, D-Tenn., an actor before entering politics in 1994, and now acting in the TV series "Law and Order," appeared on "Fox News Sunday." Following a series of questions of Thompson's presidential aspirations, Chris Wallace asked directly: "Would you as president pardon ‘Scooter' Libby?" Without hesitation Thompson answered "Yes." New question: "When?" Answer by Thompson: "Now." Ralph Hostetter, a prominent businessman and agricultural publisher, also is a national and local award-winning columnist. He welcomes e-mail comments at eralphhostetter@yahoo.com.
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