The Latest: Scooter Libby thanks Trump for pardoning him

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2005 file photo, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, walks to the U.S. District Court in Washington. President Donald Trump plans to pardon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a person familiar with the president's decision. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2005 file photo, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, walks to the U.S. District Court in Washington. President Donald Trump plans to pardon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a person familiar with the president's decision. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s pardon of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney (all times local):

4:40 p.m.

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby is thanking President Donald Trump for issuing him a pardon.

Libby says in a statement Friday that he and his family are grateful and that they have “suffered under the weight of a terrible injustice.” He adds that Trump “recognized this wrong and would not let it persist.”

Libby served as Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff. He was convicted in 2007 of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements. The case stemmed from an investigation into the leaking of the covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, though no one was charged for the leak.

President George W. Bush had previously commuted Libby’s prison sentence. He said Friday through a spokesman that he was “very pleased” by the pardon.

ADVERTISEMENT

___

3:35 p.m.

A White House spokeswoman says President Donald Trump’s pardoning of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby wasn’t intended as a message to special counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia probe.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Friday that “one thing has nothing to do with the other and every case should be reviewed on their own merits.” She says Trump issued the pardon because he “thought it was the right thing to do.”

Libby was a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. He was convicted of lying to investigators and obstruction of justice following the 2003 leak of the covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Trump says it appeared Libby had been “treated unfairly” by a special counsel.

Trump faces an escalating special counsel investigation over Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

___

2:30 p.m.

A spokesman for George W. Bush says the former president is “very pleased” for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and his family after he was pardoned by President Donald Trump.

The spokesman, Freddy Ford, says, “President Bush is very pleased for Scooter and his family.”

Libby was a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. He was convicted of lying to investigators and obstruction of justice following the 2003 leak of the covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence but didn’t issue a pardon despite intense pressure from Cheney.

Trump said in a statement that he doesn’t know Libby, but “for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly.”

ADVERTISEMENT

___

1:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump has issued a full pardon to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says in a statement Friday that Trump has issued the pardon.

Libby is Cheney’s former chief of staff. He was convicted of lying to investigators and obstruction of justice following the 2003 leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

President George W. Bush later commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence, but didn’t issue a pardon despite intense pressure from Cheney. No one was ever charged with the leak.

Trump says in the statement that he does not know Libby, but “for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.”

___

11:15 a.m.

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame says President Donald Trump’s plans to pardon I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby send a message “that you can commit crimes against national security and you will be pardoned.”

Plame was exposed as a CIA operative during the George W. Bush administration. Libby, who served as Cheney’s chief of staff, was convicted in 2007 of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to FBI investigators. No one, however, was charged for the leak.

Trump plans to pardon Libby. That’s according to a person familiar with the president’s decision; the person wasn’t authorized to discuss the decision ahead of its public announcement and demanded anonymity.

Plame spoke to MSNBC Friday.

___

7:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump plans to pardon I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

That’s according to a person familiar with the president’s decision who said the announcement could come as early as Friday. The person wasn’t authorized to discuss the decision ahead of its public announcement and demanded anonymity.

The person said the pardon has been under consideration at the White House for months.

Libby, who served as Cheney’s chief of staff, was convicted in 2007 of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements. The case stemmed from an investigation into the leaking of the covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, though no one was charged for the leak.

President George W. Bush had previously commuted Libby’s prison sentence.