Why Scooter Libby Didnt Get a Presidential Pardon Until Just Now
President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned former Vice President Dick Cheney's onetime Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was convicted in 2007 of perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation of the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. President George W. Bush had already been accused of showing favoritism to someone within his administration when he commuted Libby's sentence, which saved Libby from serving two-and-a-half-years in jail. But pardons go further, restoring some rights that are usually revoked for those with criminal convictions as well as reducing the stigma that comes with the offense. That's what Cheney wanted for his former aide. But Bush thought Libby didn't deserve a pardon, and Cheney never forgave him. Here's why, as TIME explained in its Aug. 3, 2009, cover story on the feud, Get your history fix in one place sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter, Click here to read the whole article