Fitzgerald wants Libby jailed now, while Secretary Rice hints at pardon
 Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald sought the immediate imprisonment of former top White House Adviser I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in papers filed Tuesday with a federal district court. At the same time, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hinted at the possibility of a pardon from President George W. Bush for the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.
"Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald urged a federal judge Tuesday not to delay former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence in the CIA leak case," wrote AP's Matt Apuzzo on Tuesday morning. "Fitzgerald, in court documents filed Tuesday, said an appeals court is unlikely to overturn Libby's conviction because the evidence against him was so overwhelming."
Due to the possibility of an appeal, Federal District Judge Reggie B. Walton has yet to set a date for Libby's sentence to begin. Last week, the top White House aide was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Earlier this year, he was convicted of five counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements during a federal investigation into the outing of former covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.
At the same time, a Monday afternoon report at Editor and Publisher pointed to an interview of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by the Wall Street Journal's editorial board.
At first, Rice said she didn't want to get involved in the deliberations.
"Look, I'm not going to get involved in trying to give the President advice on how he ought to think about this. You know, he has to think about what he wants to do," she said.
But, Rice seemed to hint at the desire for a pardon of Libby for his crimes.
"Let me tell you what I think about Scooter Libby. I think he's served the country really well. I think he did it to the best of his ability," Rice said when asked "You think he should go to jail?"
She went on, "I think that he is going through an extremely difficult time with his family and for him. And you know, I'm just desperately sorry that it's happening to him and I -- you know, the legal system has spoken, but I tell you, this is a really good guy who is a good public servant and ought to be treated in accordance with that."
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