Maine lawmakers decry Bush decision

Both Democratic members of Maine’s congressional delegation on Tuesday decried President Bush’s decision to commute former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s 21/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case.

Rep. Tom Allen called it a miscarriage of justice and Rep. Michael Michaud described it simply as “an outrage.”

“The words engraved over the door to the Supreme Court read ‘Equal Justice Under Law.’ The president’s action yesterday amends that to ‘unless you’re Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff,”‘ Allen said Tuesday in a statement.

Michaud said the case demonstrated that the president is “against any accountability for his administration’s actions leading up to the war in Iraq.”

“Although he acted within his constitutional powers, the president is demonstrating his belief that his administration should be able to act above the law,” Michaud said in a statement also issued Tuesday.

Bush on Monday spared Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff after a federal appeals court panel ruled that Libby could not delay his prison term.

Bush’s decision was roundly criticized by Democrats. Some Republicans welcomed the decision while others said he should have gone further.

Because he was not pardoned, Libby remains the highest-ranking White House official convicted of a crime since the Iran-Contra affair.