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I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 for lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA officer. The federal judge who presided over the case indicated that he may not be sympathetic to allowing Libby to remain free pending appeal, but scheduled a hearing on the matter for next week. "Evidence in this case overwhelmingly indicated Mr. Libby’s culpability," U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said moments before he handed out the sentence. The judge said he was sentencing Libby "with a sense of sadness. I have the highest respect for people who take positions in our government and appreciate tremendously efforts they bring to bear to protect this country." At the same time, Walton said, "I also think it is important we expect and demand a lot from people who put themselves in those positions. Mr. Libby failed to meet the bar. For whatever reason, he got off course."
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I. Lewis Libby Jr., once one of the most powerful men in government as Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, was sentenced today to two and a half years in prison for lying to a grand jury and F.B.I. agents who were investigating the unmasking of a C.I.A. operative during a fierce debate over the war in Iraq. Federal Judge Reggie B. Walton also fined Mr. Libby $250,000 after declaring that there had been “overwhelming evidence” of Mr. Libby’s guilt on the four counts — one each of obstruction of justice and giving false statements, and two of perjury. He was convicted on March 6. Judge Walton did not set a date for Mr. Libby to report to prison. The judge said at first that he saw no reason for the defendant to remain free pending appeal, but he later agreed to accept briefs on that issue and rule later.
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Cheney released a statement after the verdict saying he is "deeply saddened" by his former aide and friend’s conviction and he hopes that his appeal will "return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man." Libby has served "tirelessly and with great distinction" in the State and Defense departments and in the White House, Cheney said. "I have always considered him to be a man of the highest intellect, judgment and personal integrity — a man fully committed to protecting the vital security interests of the United States and its citizens," the vice president said.
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I suppose the best thing about the Libby Trial and sentencing was Judge Reggie Walton’s handling of things. He didn’t allow the ludicrous Memory Defense, and in his sentencing statement he was very clear that he was sentencing a guilty man. Libby’s plea – "It is, respectfully, my hope that the court will consider, along with the jury verdict, my whole life" – is not consistent with our judicial tradition. Walton respectfully reminded Libby, "Mr. Libby failed to meet the bar. For whatever reason, he got off course." Unfortunately, Scooter Libby was not "off course" from his or his boss’s perspective. He was definitely on course – the course mapped for him to follow.
This case is a National Tragedy. The Chief of Staff for the Vice President of the United States of America lied to a Federal Investigator to protect his boss, the Vice President of the United States, from prosecution for deliberately revealing the identity of an American Undercover C.I.A. Agent who was working on trying to find out about an enemy’s Nuclear Bomb Program. That identity was revealed to discredit the Agent’s husband who criticized the Administration for lying – lying to get us into a war that has also turned out to be a National Tragedy.
In fact, this whole Administration is, and will always be, a National Tragedy. I’m tired of following it, tired of reading about it, tired of thinking about it. We all are. Who wants to live in a time of National Shame? Who wants to walk down the street and see that over half of the people you see there voted for these people, twice? Who wants to know that if there were an 
election tomorrow, a lot of them would still vote for these people?
We all bear the responsibility for allowing Scooter Libby, for the invasion of the Department of Justice by political hacks, for the torture of prisoners, for the invasion of a country that was no threat to us, for the death of Americans and Iraqis for no good purpose. We should be throwing the tea in the Boston Harbor and actively working to end the nightmare, before it worsens. Instead, we left it in the hands of people we were supposed to trust, and in this case – they came through. Thanks Judge Walton, not for the verdict. Thanks to Patrick Fitzgerald and some honest jurors for that. Thanks to Judge Walton for just doing his job.
Dark days these, but Libby’s Trial is at least a sign that we’re not totally dead inside.
I only hope that there will be people who will have the guts to say what we are saying, that this dishonorable man helped this administration lie us into war. How dare the P and VP say how sad they are for Libby. Let this guilty verdict for Libby and the other un -American things they have done and are still doing be treated with the same kind of justice.