Pat Fitzgerald: Trump pardon doesn't change Libby's conviction

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Just because President Donald Trump has pardoned a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney does not change the fact that a jury found him guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice, said former Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald was the special prosecutor who sought and achieved the 2007 conviction of Scooter Libby, Cheney's chief of staff. The charges stemmed from an investigation into who leaked the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame.

In a statement, Fitzgerald said that while the president holds a constitutional power to pardon, "the decision to do so in this case purports to be premised on the notion that Libby was an innocent man convicted on the basis of inaccurate testimony caused by the prosecution. That is false." In reality, Libby was convicted by testimony from multiple witnesses, his own grand jury testimony and numerous records.

"Mr. Libby, represented by able counsel, received a fair trial before an exacting trial judge and a jury who found the facts clearly established that Libby committed the crimes he was charged with," Fitzgerald wrote. "That was true yesterday. It remains true today."

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