might be undermining the greater picture he s trying to paint here by making these seemingly pet petty tasks. this is a man seen like the north star in some circles. do you think it dings his credibility by making those comments? i was surprised he made those tawdry comments. there used to be the establishment memoir. comey came from that kind of ilk. this book he s using terms like holy crap and, you know, you mentioned the tan lines. he knows everybody is google it and talking. that particular reference. it s allowing what michael was sayi saying this is a gross book and the firing today of i mean, the pardoning of scooter libby
investigation. merely being a witness, somebody may come and ask questions, but it does not give you a financial investigation and there is no need to recuse. walter schaub, i m curious, your thoughts on the president pardoning scooter libby today. well that is very concerning because it is a strong message he s sending to people that don t don t worry about cooperating with mueller or other investigators, because i ve got your back if you do it. and that seems to be loud and clear, the message there. and if there was any doubt, kellyanne conway went on tv and talked about the fact that she felt that scooter libby was the victim of as she put it another special counsel. mm-hmm. let me bring in stand by, everyone. i want to bring in doug brinkley to talk more about michael cohen under criminal investigation just in the last couple of minutes here. again, if you are just joining us, the significant piece of
vice president cheney s former chief of staff as president trump has issued him a pardon. his 2007 conviction for lying about events surrounding the leak of the identity of cia officer valerie plane has been the source of great controversy over the years. many have argued that libby was the victim of a politically motivated special counsel run amok. that special prosecutor, patrick fitzgerald who was appointed by then deputy attorney general james comey, made the probe more about catching libby and ally than identifying a leaker. today, the president cited former new york times reporter judith miller as a key part of libby s pardon. one of the key witnesses against mr. libby, judith miller recanted her testimony stating publicly that she believed the prosecutor withheld relevant information that would have altered significantly what she said. you may remember we went through a review of her own.
to remember is that, she spent 85 days in jail for refusing to reveal libby as a resource and she drains me now. talk about full circle. here you are tonight and scooter libby has been pardon. your thoughts on the president s choice? i think i m very pleased for mr. libby. i m very, very, very delighted that even though president bush commuted his sentence, he wouldn t take that next step and pardon him. a pardon is very important for scooter libby who really became the kind of target of all of the fury and anger over the war in iraq and the way with which we got into it. i think that s what the prosecution and persecution of scooter libby was all about. martha: the investigation was to figure out who outed valerie plain.
it s a challenge that we face, but one we must face. martha: thank you very much, gentlemen. sobering conversation and we ll see what we hear from the white house. we are watching this very closely and we should get information any minute really. thank you for being here. still to come tonight, several former fbi agents say that james comey s newfound fame is really not that great for the bureau. we re going to speak to one of those people who feels that way you re at a longtime agent and the fbi about this before the celebrity. plus, president trump clearing the name of scooter libby, pardoning judith miller her reaction to this huge story today coming up next. in our system, each individual is presumed innocent and entitled to due process at a fair trial termites.