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Posted: 2018-04-13T17:21:32Z | Updated: 2018-04-13T20:25:42Z

President Donald Trump pardoned I. Lewis Scooter Libby Friday, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted in 2007 of perjury and obstruction of justice after a leak that disclosed a CIA agents name.

I dont know Mr. Libby, but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly, Trump said in a statement from the White House. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.

Cheney issued a statement about the pardon.

Scooter Libby is one of the most capable, principled, and honorable men I have ever known. He is innocent, and he and his family have suffered for years because of his wrongful conviction, the former vice president said.

ABC News and The Washington Post both reported this week that Trump had been considering the pardon for a few months, but there was no clear timeline for when it might happen.

The chief prosecutor in Libbys case, Patrick Fitzgerald, also happens to be friends with former FBI Director James Comey . The pardon comes as Trump has been railing against Comey as a liar and a leaker for writing about his interactions with the president in his new memoir.

Libby was charged in 2005 with lying to the FBI , perjury and obstruction of justice following an investigation into who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative at the time, to various journalists. Libby, according to prosecutors, lied about where he learned of her identity and what he discussed with reporters.