Libby and Rich: pardon-me boys

Democrats and Republicans did their best this week to draw distinctions between Bill Clinton’s pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich and George Bush’s commutation of Lewis Libby’s prison sentence.

“I think there are guidelines for what happens when somebody is convicted,” Clinton said in a radio interview Tuesday. “You’ve got to understand, this is consistent with their philosophy; they believe that they should be able to do what they want to do, and that the law is a minor obstacle.”

The Associated Press reports that White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel responded, “When you think about the previous administration and the 11th-hour, fire-sale pardons … it’s really startling that they have the gall to criticize what we believe is a very considered, a very deliberate approach to a very unique case.”

Guess who used to represent Rich. That’s right, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who testified in 2001 before a House committee investigating the pardon.

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• Muck tracker - Cheney says Libby deserved a pardon - January 22, 2009
• Scooter Libby - Knowing people in high places - July 3, 2007
• In final days, Bush likely to pardon more than turkeys - November 27, 2008
• And now there’s Marc Rich the sequel - January 16, 2009
• Bush defies expectations on Libby, Milken pardons - January 21, 2009
• DC court disbars Scooter Libby - March 20, 2008
• Scott McClellan comes from ‘tell-all’ tradition - May 28, 2008
• Muckety mover - Dick Cheney - February 19, 2009
• Of the many pardoned by Bill, few give to Hillary - May 1, 2008
• Judge rules that White House staffers can be subpoenaed - July 31, 2008