Scooter Libby lost his license to practice law today: 

Former top White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was banned Thursday from practicing law in the nation's capital following his perjury conviction in the case of a CIA operative's leaked identity.

The disbarment order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had been expected.

"When a member of the bar is convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, disbarment is mandatory," the appeals court ruled.

The highest ranking Bush administration official convicted of a crime is foregoing his appeal of that conviction:

Former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby this morning gave up the appeal of his perjury and obstruction convictions in connection with the CIA leak case, his attorney said.

Libby, whose 30-month prison sentence was commuted by President Bush just before he was to begin serving it, continues to maintain his innocence, attorney Theodore V. Wells Jr. said in a statement. But, Wells said, "the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear."

As a result, Wells said, Libby filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Washington today to dismiss the appeal.

A federal jury convicted Libby in March of four felonies for lying to FBI agents and the grand jury that investigated the leak of the identity of then-covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. Libby was found guilty of two perjury counts and one count each of obstructing justice and making false statements -- about when and how he learned Plame's identity, and what he told journalists about her.

Libby has already paid the $250,000 fine levied upon him, Wells said. He will remain on supervised release for a total of two years and must complete 400 hours of community service as part of his criminal sentence.

Bush has never ruled out a full pardon of Libby, who was the only person charged in connection with the leak case. Unless such a pardon is issued, Libby will remain a convicted felon.

Judge Reggie Walton, who was appointed to the federal bench by George W. Bush in 2001, revealed his thoughts on Bush's commutation of Libby's sentence in a footnote to a legal document.  Walton, like so many of us, is "perplexed" by Bush's words and action:   

In an unusual expression of frustration, the judge who sentenced former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to 30 months in jail, only to see the sentence commuted by President Bush, said he was "perplexed" by the act of clemency.

In his first public comments on the matter, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton took issue with Bush's statement that the prison sentence ordered for Libby last month was "excessive." Walton defended the sentence, saying that he followed established legal precedents as well as a strict interpretation of federal sentencing guidelines that has been supported by Bush's own administration.

"In light of these considerations … it is fair to say that the court is somewhat perplexed as to how its sentence could accurately be characterized as 'excessive,' " Walton wrote.

"Although it is certainly the president's prerogative to justify the exercise of his constitutional commutation power in whatever manner he chooses, the court notes that the term of incarceration imposed in this case was determined after a careful consideration of each of the requisite statutory factors."

The judge, who was appointed to the federal bench by Bush in 2001 in part because of his tough law-and-order approach to sentencing, made the comments in a lengthy footnote to an order issued Thursday.

Hat tip Think Progress. 

One of George Bush's justifications for commuting Scooter Libby's sentence was the Libby would still have to pay the $250,000 fine -- and serve his probation.  Libby did pay the fine today, but, the Federal District Court Judge has questioned whether the probation can still be applied.  Bush's commutation order may have absolved Libby of that punishment: 

Former White House aide Lewis Libby has paid a $250,000 fine as part of his sentence in the CIA leak case, but the probation he was scheduled to serve under the commutation of his prison sentence may not be served after all.

According to a July 3 order issued by Judge Reggie Walton, who was the trial judge in Libby's case: "Strictly construed, the statute authorizing the imposition of supervised release indicates that such release should only occur after the defendant has already served a term of imprisonment.

"President George W. Bush commuted the 30-month prison term that Libby was scheduled to serve before he served a day of it.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said that under Walton's June 22 sentencing order, Libby was required to report to the probation office within 72 hours of the release from custody to serve his period of supervision by the probation office.

Hearings on the Libby case will take place next week, via TPM Muckraker:

On Capitol Hill, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has already called for hearing next Wednesday at noon titled "The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials." According to a committee aide, the hearing will have an eye to the future as much as the past. President Bush thinks jail time is "excessive" for an administration official convicted of lying to protect higher administration officials. In his statement announcing the hearing, Conyers worried about such a precedent: "Taken to its extreme, the use of such authority could completely circumvent the law enforcement process and prevent credible efforts to investigate wrongdoing in the executive branch." The aide told me that potential witnesses for the hearing include legal scholars, pardon experts, and administration officials.

During today's White House press briefing, Bush spokesman Tony Snow once again showed the administration's lack of respect for the intelligence community -- and their contempt for the rule of law. Mr. Snow managed to question the veracity of Ambassador Joseph WIlson. The transcript of the briefing is below.

Here is the response from Ambassador Wilson:

To claim that leaking the identity of a covert operative is simply part of the "Washington culture" suggests a deep disdain for those patriots who risk their lives to protect our national security. Mr. Snow's comment was insulting not just to Valerie Wilson, but to all covert operatives who believe that in return for their sacrifices, our government will do everything it can to protect them. A genuine and sincere apology from the White House -- not just to Mrs. Wilson, but the entire intelligence community -- is long overdue.

The president is now implicated in an ongoing cover-up and obstruction of justice, there remains, according to special counsel Fitzgerald, a cloud over the Vice President and Libby is a four time convicted liar, perjurer, and obstructor of justice. The administration once again, regrettably, attacks others rather than accepts responsibility for their actions and crimes. The American people know better. We know the difference between right and wrong even if the president, the vice president and their spokesmen do not.

And here's the latest salvo from the White House Press Secretary Tony Snow prompting that statement from Ambassador Wilson:

Q And also, let me ask you this. The President and other White House press secretaries would not touch this question of Joe Wilson during the height of the investigation. I'm going to ask you now, since the President is now basically saying this is over and he's done what he's done -- Joe Wilson asked for an apology for the American people because of the situation. Is the White House now willing to give the American people --

MR. SNOW: I'm not going to get into --

Q Why not?

MR. SNOW: Because --

Q Why not? It's over now. You didn't want to talk about it then. Let's talk about it now. Do you think the American people are owed something because of the breach?

SNOW: Number one, there is still considerable controversy about the facts of the case, including Joe Wilson's veracity. Number two, there is also...

QUESTION: (inaudible) question about his veracity?

SNOW: ... there is also -- just very quickly, you take a look at the Senate report, his characterization of who sent him over and what he told people when he was in Niger is at direct odds with what he tended to tell the American public.

George Bush was asked directly about the Scooter Libby case today.  His response left open the possibility that Libby would receive a full pardon according to Reuters:

President George W. Bush on Tuesday refused to rule out a pardon for former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a day after sparing him from prison in a case that helped seal his Iraq legacy and gave ammunition to Democrats.

Bush, who angered Democrats but reassured conservatives by saving Libby from serving a 2-1/2 year prison sentence, told reporters who asked about an eventual full pardon for Libby: "As to the future I rule nothing in and nothing out."

Melanie Sloan appeared on MSNBC's Hardball last night to talk about the commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence by George Bush. She put it plainly, "it's outrageous":

Editor and Publisher has compiled the litany of editorials from across the country in the wake of Bush's decision to commute Scooter LIbby's sentence.  As E&P notes "nearly all of them have condemned the Bush act."  

Here's what's being said.  Besides the Wall Street Journal and NY Post who want a full pardon for Libby, the editorials are resoundingly negative:

The [Washington] Post, which had often mocked the court case, declares today: "We agree that a pardon would have been inappropriate and that the prison sentence of 30 months was excessive. But reducing the sentence to no prison time at all, as Mr. Bush did -- to probation and a large fine -- is not defensible. ... Mr. Bush, while claiming to 'respect the jury's verdict,' failed to explain why he moved from 'excessive' to zero.

"It's true that the felony conviction that remains in place, the $250,000 fine and the reputational damage are far from trivial. But so is lying to a grand jury. To commute the entire prison sentence sends the wrong message about the seriousness of that offense."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "President Bush's commutation of a pal's prison sentence counts as a most shocking act of disrespect for the U.S. justice system. It's the latest sign of the huge repairs to American concepts of the rule of law that await the next president."

The Denver Post found that "such big-footing of other branches of government is not unprecedented with this administration. The president's abuse of signing statements show his disrespect for Congress' power to make law. His insistence that terror detainees at Guantanamo Bay be denied Habeas Corpus rights mocks legal tradition. It's a shame that his actions in the Libby affair will add to that list. Libby should be held accountable for his crimes."

San Francisco Chronicle: "In commuting the sentence of former White House aide Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, President Bush sent the message that perjury and obstruction of justice in the service of the president of the United States are not serious crimes."

But The Wall Street Journal sees it differently: "By failing to issue a full pardon, Mr. Bush is evading responsibility for the role his administration played in letting the Plame affair build into fiasco and, ultimately, this personal tragedy. ... Mr. Libby deserved better from the President whose policies he tried to defend when others were running for cover. The consequences for the reputation of his Administration will also be long-lasting."

New York Post: "If Bush thinks such parsing will spare him the political backlash an outright pardon would produce, he's wrong. The jackals are tearing at his heels this morning -- and for doing only half the necessary job. Bush knows a pardon is warranted. He should grant it."

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's editorial declares that "mostly this commutation fails on the most basic premise. There was no miscarriage of justice in Libby's conviction or his sentence. The trial amply demonstrated that he stonewalled. Like President Clinton's 11th-hour pardons of an ill-deserving few, this commutation is a travesty."

New York's Daily News: "However misbegotten was the probe by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the fact is that Libby did commit a federal crime and the fact is also that he was convicted in a court of law. Thankfully, Bush did not pardon Libby outright, but time in the slammer was in order. Sixty days, say, wouldn't have hurt the justice system a bit."

Chicago Tribune believes that "in nixing the prison term, Bush sent a terrible message to citizens and to government officials who are expected to serve the public with integrity. The way for a president to discourage the breaking of federal laws is by letting fairly rendered consequences play out, however uncomfortably for everyone involved. The message to a Scooter Libby ought to be the same as it is for other convicts: You do the crime, you do the time."

The Arizona Republic: "We thought Scooter Libby was going through the criminal justice system. Just like anyone else. Then, President Bush whipped out a get-out-of-jail-free card. This is the wrong game to play on a very public stage."

San Jose Mercury News: "Other presidents have doled out pardons and the like, usually on the way out of office. It's never pretty. But few have placed themselves above the law as Bush, Cheney and friends repeatedly have done by trampling civil liberties and denying due process. Chalk up another point for freedom. Scooter's, at least."

The Sacramento Bee: President Bush, a recent story in the Washington Post tells us, is obsessed with the question of how history will view him. He has done himself no favors on that count by commuting the prison term of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby."

The Dallas Morning News: "Perhaps the president felt he had nothing left to lose, given his unpopularity. But considering how much trouble the White House faces in regard to congressional subpoenas, the last thing this president needed was to further antagonize Capitol Hill regarding abuse of executive power."

The Rocky Mountain News, in Denver, in the most bizarre comment, accepts the "compassion" argument and just wishes Bush had waited a little bit so his move could not be wrongly "perceived": "Bush's statement exudes compassion, and it carefully gives credit to those who criticize prison time for Libby as well as to those who defend it. But the president should have restrained his compassion -- and delayed his commutation -- for at least a few more months, lest he be perceived as subverting justice, too."