Who Is Scooter Libby? President Trump Pardons Former White House Official

President Donald Trump signed off on a complete pardon for Scooter Libby, former chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday. Libby was convicted in 2007 of lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice.

Libby was born on Aug. 22, 1950, in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from the Eaglebrook School, in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1965 and went on to pursue an honors degree from Yale University in 1972. He also received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Columbia Law School in 1975, Jewage reported.

Libby is married to Harriet Grant. The couple has a son and daughter.

At the time of being indicted of the federal crime in 2005, Libby held three coveted governmental titles — assistant to the vice president for National Security Affairs, chief of staff to the vice president and assistant to the then-President George W. Bush. As soon as he was indicted, Libby resigned from all his three governmental posts.

Libby was accused of leaking the covert identity of Central Intelligence Agency officer Valerie Plame Wilson, for which he was charged with two counts of perjury, two counts of making false statements to federal investigators, and one count of obstruction of justice.

In a federal trial, Libby was convicted of four of the five charges against him. He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, and two years of supervised release, including 400 hours of community service on June 5, 2007.

On April 3, 2007, Libby’s license to practice law was suspended by the District of Columbia Bar in Washington, D.C., which recommended his disbarment pending his appeal of his conviction. Bush then decided to commute Libby's 30-month prison sentence on July 2, 2007, but did not grant him a complete pardon.

"I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison. ... My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged,” Bush said at the time.

Trump’s action was seen by many as one-upping Bush, whose failure to grant Libby a full pardon displeased Cheney. However, the POTUS’ decision to grant Libby a full presidential pardon was seen as a controversial decision as it adds to similarly questionable pardons given by him in the recent days, ABC News reported.

Earlier this year, Trump pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio who was found guilty of criminal contempt after he refused to stop imprisoning suspected undocumented immigrants in his state.

While there were rumors floating around Trump preparing to grant presidential pardons for his political allies who are currently being investigated for possible ties to Russia, the White House has confirmed that no pardons are being considered by the president at the moment.