During July 2 newscasts about President Bush's commutation of former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby's prison sentence, KDVR Fox 31's News at Nine O'Clock and KUSA's 9News at 10 p.m. reported Bush's statement that Libby's sentence was “excessive,” but did not include any responses from critics of the president's decision. In contrast, the July 2 broadcasts of KCNC's CBS4 News at 10 p.m. and KWGN CW2's News2 at Nine reported the criticisms of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who stated that Bush's decision to commute Libby's sentence “is just the latest example of a White House that holds itself accountable to nobody. Not the judges, not the prosecutors, not the rule of law.”

As The New York Times detailed, Libby on March 6 was found guilty on four of five federal counts: one count of obstructing justice, one count of making false statements, and two counts of perjury with regard to federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into who leaked details of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to the media.

On July 2, Bush, by Grant of Executive Clemency, commuted Libby's sentence, asserting in a public statement:

I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.

As the Associated Press reported, “Just when things looked darkest for I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, when prison seemed all but certain, President Bush wiped away the former White House aide's 2 1/2-year sentence in the CIA leak case.” The AP further noted:

Bush's move came Monday, just five hours after a federal appeals panel ruled that Libby could not delay his prison term. His prospects for an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court seemed bleak. The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, Libby was just waiting for a date to surrender.

After months of sidestepping pardon questions, Bush stepped in. He did not issue a pardon but erased a prison sentence that he felt was just too harsh.

Reporting on Bush's decision to commute Libby's 30-month sentence, Fox 31 co-anchor Ron Zappolo stated, “The president said in a statement he respects the jury's verdict but calls the prison sentence 'excessive.' ”

From the July 2 broadcast of KDVR Fox 31's News at Nine O'Clock:

ZAPPOLO: President Bush commuting former White House aide “Scooter” Libby's 30-month sentence today. The president said in a statement he respects the jury's verdict but calls the prison sentence “excessive.” The two-year probation and 250 thousand-dollar fine do stay in place. In March, Libby was convicted of lying to authorities and obstructing the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

Similarly, 9News co-anchor Bazi Kanani reported that "[t]he president called the two-and-a-half-year prison term 'excessive' but left intact a 250 thousand-dollar fine and two years probation for Libby."

From the July 2 broadcast of KUSA's 9News at 10 p.m.:

KANANI: Lewis “Scooter” Libby will not be going to prison after all; President Bush has commuted his sentence. The president called the two-and-a-half-year prison term “excessive” but left intact a 250 thousand-dollar fine and two years probation for Libby. The vice president's former chief of staff was convicted in March of lying and obstructing the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

Neither report pointed out, however, that Bush's decision to commute Libby's sentence was criticized strongly by Democrats and others, including Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, and Fitzgerald, the special federal prosecutor who secured Libby's conviction.

In contrast to Fox 31 and 9News, CBS4 quoted Bush's statement that “the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive,” but also reported on the responses of prominent Democrats such as Pelosi and Schumer.

From the July 2 broadcast of KCNC's CBS4 News at 10 p.m.:

JIM BENEMANN (co-anchor): House Speaker Pelosi is also among those speaking out against the president's decision to commute the prison sentence for “Scooter” Libby. The former White House aide had been sentenced to two-and-a-half years for perjury and obstruction of justice. Now, he won't spend any time behind bars.

[begin video clip]

BENEMANN: The president's decision came just hours after a federal appeals court ruled Libby could not delay the start of his prison sentence while he appealed. President Bush said, quote, “I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive.” The president went on to say his decision to commute the sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment. Libby still has to pay a 250 thousand-dollar fine and he'll be on probation for two years. Still, the announcement angered critics.

SCHUMER: This is just the latest example of a White House that holds itself accountable to nobody. Not the judges, not the prosecutors, not the rule of law.

BENEMANN: The former chief of staff for Vice President Cheney was convicted in the federal investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame to reporters.

[end video clip]

BENEMANN: His attorney says Scooter Libby and his family are very grateful for the president's decision, and they maintain Libby is innocent.

News2 similarly reported Pelosi's and Schumer's criticism of Bush, as well as the comments of Wilson, who called Libby a “traitor.” As News2 co-anchor Vida Urbonas noted, “While conservatives are applauding” Bush's decision, “it has already prompted an outcry from angry Democrats who accuse the White House of looking out for its friends.” Reporter Grant Rampy further reported that “New York Senator Charles Schumer” was among the Democrats “crying foul. He says the president's action amounts to trampling on the principle of equal justice under the law.”

From the July 2 broadcast of KWGN CW2's News2 at Nine:

MATT GARCIA (co-anchor): A bombshell announcement from the White House late today: President Bush has commuted the sentence of former vice presidential aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

URBONAS: While conservatives are applauding the decision, it has already prompted an outcry from angry Democrats who accuse the White House of looking out for its friends. Grant Rampy is live in Washington with the very latest. Grant, what can you tell us?

RAMPY: Big surprise, Vida, Matt. The president was sooner -- no sooner on the ground here in Washington, back from his two-day summit with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin up in Kennebunkport, than the news broke that there will be no jail time for Libby.

[begin video clip]

RAMPY: No comment from President Bush as he stepped off Air Force One, but in a statement issued a short time later, he said, “I've concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive.” He has commuted the punishment handed down after a jury found Vice President Cheney's former top aide guilty in March -- both of lying and of trying to block the investigation into who leaked former CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. Only five hours before this announcement, a federal appeals court rejected Libby's bid to remain free while he appeals his conviction. All this leaves Plame's husband furious.

WILSON: “They certainly owe my family, and my wife in particular, an apology for having betrayed her. Scooter Libby is a traitor.

RAMPY: New York Senator Charles Schumer, among Democrats crying foul. He says the president's action amounts to trampling on the principle of equal justice under the law. An important distinction -- Libby's sentence has been commuted; he has not been pardoned. He'll remain on probation, he may yet be stripped of his law license, and he will still have to pay a 250 thousand-dollar fine. Experts, meantime, point out that the president's acting within his prerogative.

CLARENCE PAGE (Chicago Tribune columnist): He has very little to lose politically. He's not running for office again, and Republicans are more concerned about what happens later on this year, so it actually, I think, is to his benefit politically.

JEFFREY TOOBIN (legal analyst): The ch -- the case is over. What's unusual is that the president of the United States got involved at this level at this time, and that's something that almost never happens, and I think that's going to be the significance of today.

[end video clip]

RAMPY: So, Libby avoids two and a half years in jail. Tonight, conservatives are hailing the president's decision, saying that it's the right thing to have done; fantastic, a great relief, they say. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, meantime, says, ”The president just shows he condones criminal conduct."