I could be wrong, but I think he’s the decider and he’s not splainin nothing!

By CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers exhorted President Bush Monday to allow top aides to explain to Congress why Bush commuted I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s prison sentence.

In a letter to Bush on Monday, Conyers said the commutation was troubling and could eliminate Libby’s incentive to provide information about the administration’s role in leaking the identity of former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.

Libby, who was a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for obstructing justice in a federal probe of the leak.

Bush, calling the sentence excessive, used his executive authority last week to commute the sentence, sparing Libby from prison.

Conyers, D-Mich., urged Bush “to waive Executive Privilege and provide the relevant documents and testimony of any relevant aides regarding your decision to commute Mr. Libby’s sentence.”

The congressman said that his committee on Wednesday will hold a hearing to “explore the grave questions that arise when the Presidential clemency power is used to erase criminal penalties for high-ranking executive branch employees whose offenses relate to their work for the President.”

Read more at the AP