Fox News host Laura Ingraham will present an exclusive interview with Scooter Libby after President Trump pardoned the former senior Bush administration official on Friday.

 

Ingraham shared news of the interview on Friday, urging followers to tune in for her show later in the evening:

Libby, the former chief of staff to then-Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007 as part of the probe into the disclosure of the identity of former covert CIA officer Valerie Plame. Trump pardoned him on Friday.

 

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“I don’t know Mr. Libby, but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly,” Trump said in a statement. “Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.”

 

The White House added that Libby “had rendered more than a decade of honorable service to the nation” and that his post-conviction record “is similarly unblemished, and he continues to be held in high regard by his colleagues and peers.”

 

Plame slammed the decision Friday afternoon, saying in a statement that Trump “has granted a pardon to I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby on the basis that he was ‘treated unfairly’. That is simply false.”

 

Ingraham’s exclusive interview with Libby comes after the Fox News host returned from vacation this week after a series of advertisers fled her show following a boycott.

 

Parkland, Fla., high school shooting survivor David Hogg launched the boycott on March 28 after the host mocked the student activist over several colleges rejecting his applications.

 

Two dozen advertisers have since left the Fox News program. 

Still, one advertiser – ACE Hardware – announced late Thursday it was reversing course after pulling its ads more than a week ago. 

“The information we had at the time of the initial request was incomplete and we apologize for that,” an Ace Hardware spokeswoman told The Hill on Friday.

 

“Advertising on any network or show, is in no way an endorsement from Ace of the content contained or spoken within that program. We appreciate the different points of view from our customers, and believe people should be treated with respect and civility,” the spokeswoman added.

“At this time, we have not altered our current media schedule; however, we regularly review our media strategy,” she added.

The move marks the first time that a company has decided to resume advertising on Ingraham’s show after withdrawing recently. 

Viewership for Ingraham’s show this week has increased when compared to her average over the first three months of 2018. 

Week to date, Ingraham is averaging 2.71 total viewers compared to 2.48 million in the first quarter of the year, according to Nielsen Media Research.  

“The Ingraham Angle” launched on Oct. 30.