Guest blogged from DC by Margie Burns
These are interesting times. A short update on the most recent legal motions in the Libby case:
As we know, in a Grant of Executive Clemency on July 2, George W. Bush commuted all prison terms for I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby. The grant states that it leaves “intact and in effect the two-year term of supervised release, with all its conditions, and all other components of the sentence.â€
What with Libby not having served any time, Judge Walton, the trial judge in the Libby case, ordered input from prosecution and defense on the question of whether there could be any “release†– and consequently any “supervised release,†i.e. probation.
First response came from Fred Fielding, Esq., now Counsel to the President. Fielding was the man who helped Nixon negotiate the shoals of the Watergate investigation — speaking of no jail time — concluding with Nixon’s resignation followed in short order by a presidential pardon even without a conviction – and, according to Nixon and then-President Gerald Ford, without even a request for a pardon. One sees why Fielding would be welcome aboard the current White House.
Fielding’s letter, dated July 6, remarks,
Fielding continues,
Margie,
Another day another scandal of stonewalling and hiding the truth of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Anyway, all of these subpoena’s folks can’t go against the Pardoner in Chief if they want a pardon can they?
So, he has shown his hand, and if they want to draw a get out of jail free card, they must submit to him.
I think that this fascist regime has taken law and order off the table.
And to make matters worse, the congress has taken impeachment off the table.
The people need to take the crooks and liars off the table.
This issue is not even a close call. The Supreme Court has already held that:
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/getcase/US/419/256.html
(a) The executive pardoning power under the Constitution, which has consistently adhered to the English common-law practice, historically included the power to commute sentences on conditions not specifically authorized by statute. United States v. Wilson, 7 Pet. 150; Ex parte Wells, 18 How. 307. Pp. 260-266.
(b) Since the pardoning power derives from the Constitution alone, it cannot be modified, abridged, or diminished by any statute, including Art. 118, and Furman v. Georgia, supra, did not affect the conditional commutation of petitioner’s sentence. Pp. 266-268.
Judge Walton had this to say:
(LA Times, emphasis added).
Scooter Libby Libby Libby’s going to Jail ! JAIL ! JAIL !He will Take it Take it Take it up the Tail! TAIL ! TAIL !
Scooter Libby Libby Libby had some Power ! POWER ! POWER !
Better Hold onto the Soap in the Shower! SHOWER ! SHOWER !
SHIT !!! I hope I can return all this K Y Jelly.
Level of corrruption is bad, we are nearly drowning!
I sent this letter to my Senators and House Rep. today regarding the corrupted state of the Office of Special Counsel and the Merit Systems Protection Board. I encourage everyone else to do so too!
———————July 16, 2007
Dear Senator_________________ (or ) Representative_________________
I have been reading about the ongoing problems with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
I have been researching issues for some time involving whistleblowers and the corruption that causes them to become whistleblowers and have blogs on this topic to help share information and encourage people to stand up to wrongdoing. I also have a family member who found themselves being labeled a whistleblower just because they responsibly and ethically did the job they were hired by the federal government to do.
It would appear there is an extremely poor track record of the OSC and MSPB for about 30 years, and that no reforms or changes made have helped. It does not appear to me at any time, but particularly now, that these organizations should be under the wing of the Executive branch, where they may be easily prevented from accomplishing their intended mission.
Since we seem to be having such a crisis at this time all throughout government, and in severely hampered if not corrupted federal agencies and offices across the country, and the Justice Department is just about non-functional, due to influence and manipulation coming from the Executive branch, I think the only real solution is to pass the laws protecting all whistleblowers including federal and defense department (S.274 and others) and then putting the investigations of allegations of wrongdoing under the legislative/Congressional branch. It appears the best efforts are being made through Congress right now in the various committee investigative efforts. Abolishing the OSC and the MSPB as the agencies under the Executive Branch, moving their mission to Congressional oversight, cleaning up the Justice Dept. and their deadening affect on all of the various criminal investigative agencies, and seeing to the very careful screening of any further Executive Branch appointed judges (Prevent any more appointments of constitutional revisionists and those who put partisan policy/politics ahead of the U.S. Constitution!) would go along way to helping to straighten this out.
The new Congressional entity will need to be adequately funded, and must have the funds restricted for use by this mission, not be able to be siphoned off to other things. The funding currently sent to OSC and MSPB should be dedicated to the new Congressional mission of overseeing the process of whistleblower complaints, and seeing that they are handled in an ethical manner. I personally have more faith in Congress right now than the other branches, and feel if there is a problem with someone in Congress not doing their job I would have more ability to address that problem, than I do dealing with trying to change the puppeteer masters, from three steps away, the way it is now.
Please sponsor a bill which will address these issues, and vote to get these changes implemented and help the many federal whistleblowers and others who are suffering never ending retribution due to the total dysfunction of these Executive branch controlled agencies.
Sincerely,
***************
For more information on Whistleblower issues see:
http://whistleblowersupporter.typepad.com