George W. Bush, from his book "A Charge to Keep," published in November, 1999:
I don’t believe my role is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own.
The quote is courtesy of
the Carpetbagger Report, whose take on the matter is straight up:
Perhaps we should call this what it is: "amnesty." In conservative circles, there’s a standard approach to law and order: we need tougher sentences, inflexible mandatory-minimums, and harsh punishment for those found to have broken U.S. law. But if you help expose the identity of a covert CIA agent during a war, lie about it, and are convicted by a jury on multiple felony counts, those standards no longer apply.
Way back in September 2003, as the investigation was getting under way, Bush announced, "If there’s a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is... If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of."
We now know exactly what he meant.
