KEY POINTS:
WASHINGTON - President George W Bush has spared former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby from going to prison for 2-1/2 years for obstructing a CIA leak investigation.
"I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr Libby is excessive," Bush said in a statement.
"Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."
Bush's move came after intense pressure from conservatives who demanded he pardon Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, and saw him as the victim of an overly zealous special prosecutor.
His decision to commute his sentence, instead of an outright pardon, was a nod to the fact that the court process for Libby had not yet run its course, but it was unlikely to quell criticism from the left.
The announcement came at the start of the Fourth of July holiday week with Congress in recess and at the end of a day in which the news was dominated by Bush's high-level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A federal judge ruled last month that Libby would have to report to prison in six to eight weeks. An appeals court on Monday rejected Libby's request to remain free while he appealed his conviction.
Libby was sentenced to prison for lying and obstructing an investigation into who blew the cover of a CIA officer whose husband criticised the Iraq war. He also received at US$250,000 ($324,000) fine and two years probation.
"He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect," Bush said. "The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting."
Background:
* The former chief of staff to Cheney was sentenced on June 5 to 30 months in prison.
* Libby was convicted in March on four of five counts in the investigation into who blew the cover of CIA analyst Valerie Plame, whose husband was an outspoken Iraq war critic.
* The Libby charges grew out of an investigation of the leak of Plame's identity in 2003 after her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the administration of manipulating intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to build its case for war.
* No charges have been brought against anyone for the actual leaks to journalists about Plame. Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly reveal the identity of a covert agent.
* Libby faced a maximum of 25 years in prison.
* Known as "Cheney's Dick Cheney," Libby was a quiet force in building the Bush administration's case for the Iraq invasion.
* Libby also served in the administration of Bush's father as deputy under secretary of defence and was at the State Department during the Reagan administration.
* He was educated at Yale University, Bush's alma mater, and Columbia University law school.
- REUTERS
