The Daily Background

Nearly 70% of Americans do not want Lewis Libby to be pardoned by President Bush, according to a CNN/OPR poll out today.

The poll found that only 18% of Americans favored a pardon for the convicted felon (69% do not want a pardon), who stepped down in 2004 shortly after his indictment on five felony counts including obstruction of justice, lying to investigators, and perjury. Libby was convicted last week of four of those counts.

A strong plurality, 52% of Americans, also believe Cheney was involved in a cover-up, while 29% disagreed.

Libby’s defense attorneys plan to request a new trial, and if that fails, they plan to appeal the conviction an 11 member jury unanimously brought against the Vice President’s former Chief of Staff.

Libby is scheduled to be sentenced in June, and is expected to get less than five years in prison, although the federal sentencing guidelines for the original indictments called for up to 30 years with more than a million dollars in fines.

Filed under: Plame Leak, Z-TDB Blog