Trump expected to pardon former Cheney aide Libby

Donald Trump (Gage Skidmore | Wikimedia Commons)
Donald Trump (Gage Skidmore | Wikimedia Commons)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to pardon I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

That’s according to a person familiar with the president’s decision who said the announcement could come as early as Friday. The person wasn’t authorized to discuss the decision ahead of its public announcement and demanded anonymity.

The person said the pardon has been under consideration at the White House for months.

Libby, who served as Cheney’s chief of staff, was convicted in 2007 of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements. The case stemmed from an investigation into the leaking of the covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, though no one was charged for the leak.

President George W. Bush had previously commuted Libby’s prison sentence. (AP)