DNC Calls on Republican '08ers to Denounce Bush's Involvement in Plame Cover-up, Say If They'd Still Pardon Libby

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

DNC Press

Washington, DC - Just months after President Bush commuted the sentence of Vice President Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby for his involvement in the case of the leaking of the identity of a CIA operative, former White House Press Secretary and Bush confidant Scott McClellan revealed yesterday that President Bush himself was involved in the cover-up. In his new book, McClellan writes he "unknowingly passed along false information" at press conferences about the Plame incident, and that President Bush himself was "involved in my doing so." [FOXNews.com, 11/20/07]

Given that the Republican presidential frontrunners have either supported
a pardon or commutation for Libby or have dodged and weaved the question altogether, the American people deserve to know if they condone this Republican Culture of Corruption that appears to lead to the top of the White House.

"Up to now, the leading Republican frontrunners have either supported
pardoning Scooter Libby or dodged the question. But new information makes clear that not only did Libby lie, he and others -- including the President himself -- knowingly let McClellan mislead the American people. In light of this disturbing new information, the American people deserve to know: do the Republican presidential candidates condone this type of behavior from the White House, and would they pardon Scooter Libby? The fact is, Americans are tired of the Republican culture of corruption and are looking for change, not more cover-ups," said DNC Press Secretary Stacie Paxton.

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES STAND WITH BUSH…

FRED THOMPSON: Raising Millions to Defend Convicted Libby, Thompson
"Urged a Pardon." Fred Thompson has helped to raise millions of dollars
as a chair of now-convicted Scooter Libby's defense fund. He said he
reached out to Libby and offered to help: "I called him up and offered to
help him." Thompson strongly supports a pardon for Libby. Today he said:
"I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to
him, his wife and children. While for a long time I have urged a pardon
for Scooter, I respect the President's decision. This will allow a good
American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life." [Fox
News Sunday, 3/11/07; Washington Post, 3/8/07]

MITT ROMNEY: Even Though He Denied Every Commutation and Pardon Request as Governor, He's Keeping "Option Open." When asked if he would consider pardoning Scooter Libby, Romney said "It's worth looking at that. I will study it very closely if I'm lucky enough to be president. And I'd keep
that option open." On CNN, Romney suggested that Libby might have been
entrapped by the prosecutor, saying, "what the jury did not consider is
whether the prosecutor entrapped him and pursued the course out of a
political vendetta as opposed to pursuing a real crime. And the reason
this is, in my view, a subject for careful review is because of the unusual circumstances associated with the prosecution of this case." [New
Hampshire GOP Debate, 6/5/07; Situation Room, CNN, 6/18/07]

RUDY GIULIANI: Worried About Excessive Punishment, Suggested A
Commutation. Giuliani, who usually is bragging about being tough on
crime, went out of his way to call Scooter Libby's sentence "grossly
excessive" and would consider a pardon saying "a man's life is at stake"
and that there was no underlying crime involved. In a June 25, 2007
interview with the Wall Street Journal editorial board he offered what
they said "sounds an awful lot like an argument for a pardon, and said "I
think the option the president really has is commutation. The part of it
that I find outrageous is the sentence." [New Hampshire GOP Debate,
6/5/07; editorial/transcript, Wall Street Journal, 6/30/07]

JOHN MCCAIN: Now We Know What Happens, Where Does John McCain Stand?
BLITZER: I just want to do a quick "yes" or "no." And I'm going to go
down the rest of the group and let everybody just tell me "yes" or "no":
Would you pardon Scooter Libby?
MCCAIN: He's going through an appeal process. We've got to see what
happens here. [CNN debate, 6/5/07]

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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