Editorial: Remember the real story

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 | 7:40 a.m.

P resident Bush's decision to void I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence is an important part of the CIA leak case, but not its central part.

Bush's decision Monday was prompted after a three-judge panel, hours earlier, had turned down Libby's request to remain free while he appealed his conviction for lying to the FBI and a grand jury.

Libby is Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. His case drew extraordinary attention, largely because of his closeness to Cheney, considered one of the most influential vice presidents in history.

But the judges' decision Monday drew as much attention to Bush as it did to Libby. The president immediately faced the questions: Will you? Or won't you (issue a pardon)?

Libby's prominent friends and factions of the conservative media began calling on Bush to pardon him right after his conviction. Congressional Democrats and people who worried along with them about a double standard of justice opposed a pardon.

By commuting Libby's 30-month prison sentence, and leaving the conviction and its fine and probation penalties in place, Bush tried to strike a middle ground. But the controversy rages, nonetheless.

It is this controversy that we hope doesn't become the defining aspect of this case. We believe Libby had a fair trial, was convicted of a serious offense and should have served his 30-month prison sentence, as is customary for ordinary offenders.

But that should not become the overriding issue.

The CIA leak case is linked to a July 2003 New York Times column by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, in which he debunked one of Bush's major reasons for going to war in Iraq. Shortly after , Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was exposed as a CIA agent. This leak to the media, intended as payback to Wilson, originated in the Bush administration.

It was during the investigation into the leak that Libby was interviewed by the FBI and appeared before a grand jury. He was indicted in 2005 and convicted in March of lying and obstructing justice.

But the CIA leak case is not really about Libby or Bush's commutation of his prison sentence. It is about an administration whose culture is to intimidate and retaliate when stung by the freedom that it so self-righteously claims to be promoting around the world.