John Dean: Bush’s Commutation Conflicts With His Own DoJ Guidelines

From Crooks and Liars:

Last night on “Countdown” former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean spoke to Keith about the lingering issue of whether or not Scooter Libby will be given any probation time now that President Bush has commuted his sentence. The Bush administration’s tendency to follow the law as they feel it should be might present big problems to the Judicial branch. According to Dean, the sentencing guidelines Bush used in his commutation are in direct conflict with his own DoJ, and may mean that Judge Walton has no way to institute probation since by definition, probation is awarded at the end of prison time, which Scooter doesn’t have to worry about. Now, attorneys all over the country who are defending clients facing similar charges will very likely use what are already being referred to as “Libby Motions” to lower or negate any potential prison terms for their clients.

Dean also points out that White House Counsel Fred Fielding either did a very shabby or very sneaky job of handling the details of Libby’s commutation, as it is hard to believe that someone as experienced as Fielding wouldn’t anticipate the confusion we see now. I guess it really doesn’t matter to them in the long run, their buddy Scooter will do zero prison time for his part in treasonous crimes against his country while Paris Hilton spent nearly a month in jail for a parole violation. They must be proud…