June 19, 2006: Republican Attorney Again Says Bush Will Pardon Libby

Former prosecutor Joseph diGenova, a veteran Washington attorney with deep Republican ties, says he believes President Bush will pardon former White House official Lewis Libby. “I think ultimately, of course, there are going to be pardons,” he says. “These are the kinds of cases in which historically presidents have given pardons.” DiGenova says that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s indictment of Libby “is the epitome of the criminalization of the political process.” Newsday, which publishes the interview with diGenova, calls diGenova “an old Washington hand who shares that view with many pundits.” Other unnamed sources quoted in the Newsday article say they believe Bush will pardon Libby before a trial can start, thus sparing Vice President Dick Cheney from the possibility of adverse information being made public. [Salon, 6/19/2006; Talking Points Memo, 6/19/2006] DiGenova made a similar prediction two months earlier (see April 9, 2006). He has previously stated that he believes no crime was committed by leaking Valerie Plame Wilson’s CIA identity to the public, in part because her identity was “well known” (see February 10, 2004).