No pardon for Libby

A presidential pardon for I. Lewis Libby would grievously compound the abuse of power that led to obstruction of justice and perjury convictions for Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.

Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison because he lied to a grand jury and made false statements to the FBI in the course of a special prosecutor's investigation of the 2003 outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Her husband incurred the wrath of the White House because he poked holes in a story used to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Plame's career was ended, and Libby is going to jail. Two lives ran aground on the same epic reefs of official lies and deceit.

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald put it bluntly: "Truth matters." The judge in the case was emphatic that Libby had not told the truth, repeatedly. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said powerful people who hold the safety and security of the nation in their hands have a special obligation not to do things that create problems.

President George Bush ought to keep the judge's counsel in mind. Libby operated at the highest levels of government and was central to the planning and execution of a war that has cost the nation dearly in blood and treasure. His trail of falsehoods probably had as much to do with protecting others as trying to save his own hide.

A presidential pardon sends one cynical message: Powerful, well-connected people can lie with impunity. The administration behaved as if it were above challenge and rebuke. A pardon further mocks the idea of checks and balances and the rule of law.