The six most controversial acts of clemency by US presidents

As Donald Trump’s pardon of Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff ‘Scooter’ Libby makes headlines, we review other contentious pardons and commutations

The former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney was convicted of perjury and obstruction for lying about his conversations with reporters about the outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. President George W Bush commuted his 30-month prison term but not his $250,000 fine. According to the New York Times, Bush and Cheney spent their final hours in office arguing over whether Libby should receive a pardon; Bush refused to grant one. Donald Trump pardoned him in 2018, saying: “I don’t know Mr Libby but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly.”

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