President and VP clashed over pardon for Libby
Dick Cheney’s last days in the White House were devoted to one final task: convincing George W. Bush to pardon Cheney’s former chief of staff, Scooter Libby. Libby was convicted of obstructing an investigation into the leaking of a CIA agent’s name and Bush had already commuted his jail sentence, but the vice-president wanted a full pardon before the administration left office. “”We don’t want to leave anyone on the battlefield,” he reportedly argued. Cheney was apparently dogged, if unsuccessful, in his pursuit. “”The Vice President knew there was a line out there that he was getting very close to but couldn’t cross,” says a former senior official. “The President knew that he needed to help make sure that Cheney didn’t cross that line either.”