Who will get the Bush pardons?
posted at 5:00 pm on November 24, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Send to a Friend |
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
The last couple of months in a presidential term usually holds little interest, as the lame-duck executive rarely has enough clout to push through any part of his agenda in his final hours. The one area in which a President has total control, though, is in the power to pardon — and after the controversial Clinton pardons in January 2001, people have begun to speculate who will get official forgiveness from George Bush:
With a backlog of applications piled up at the Justice Department, high-profile criminals and their well-connected lawyers increasingly are appealing directly to President Bush for special consideration on pardons and clemency, according to people involved in the process.
Among those seeking presidential action are former junk-bond salesman Michael Milken, who hired former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson, one of the nation’s most prominent GOP lawyers, to plead his case for a pardon on 1980s-era securities fraud charges. Two politicians convicted of public corruption, former congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.) and four-term Louisiana governor Edwin W. Edwards (D), are asking Bush to shorten their prison terms.
It remains to be seen how Bush will respond to these requests as his term ends. The president has used his broad pardon powers rarely during seven years in office, granting 157 pardons out of 2,064 petitions, and only six of 7,707 requests for commutations, according to an analysis by former Justice Department lawyer Margaret C. Love.
Bush has received criticism for his small output of presidential pardons, but that has been largely in keeping with his tough-on-crime policies. He may decide to loosen up as his term nears an end, but if he does, he’ll probably get more criticism from the same people who felt he hasn’t pardoned enough people. Some speculate that he’ll use the pardon power pre-emptively for those involved in terrorist interrogations to keep them from potential prosecution for efforts conducted in good faith under DoJ opinions on the limits of interrogation.
Carrie Johnson buries the lede in one sense. It takes almost half the article to discover that Scooter Libby has not filed a formal pardon request, despite a widely-held belief that Bush waited until now to take action. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence for obstruction of justice and perjury but refused to pardon him outright, stating that the appeals process should determine the justice of the conviction. Bush doesn’t have to get a formal request from Libby to issue him a full pardon, but it seems unlikely that he would act without such a request, and the time has grown short to initiate one.
Johnson doesn’t mention two other big names in clemency speculation: Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The two Border Patrol agents were convicted for the discharge of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, violation of civil rights, assault charges, and on charges of tampering with evidence. Their case has become a cause celèbre among border-security activists, and the demands for clemency have been loudly heard for months. The DoJ is currently reviewing the requests to see whether they will recommend some sort of clemency action to Bush, and this will almost certainly be among the most noteworthy of these decisions.
No matter who gets or doesn’t get clemency, the decisions will stir controversy right up to the moment of Barack Obama’s inauguration. I’m guessing that Bush will keep the pardons to a minimum, just as he has throughout his presidency. I suspect that Duke Cunningham and Edwin Edwards will be disappointed.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
On that note, I’m off to San Francisco to loot and pillage.
Meric1837 on November 24, 2008 at 5:03 PM
If Bush will at least end his presidency with pardons of Ramos and Campean, that do more than most anything else he has done this year, to improve his standing with so many people.
And most importantly, its just the right thing to do.
firepilot on November 24, 2008 at 5:03 PM
Hank Paulson is probably applying.
lodge on November 24, 2008 at 5:04 PM
Pardon the border guards.
KeepOhioRed on November 24, 2008 at 5:05 PM
Milken should absolutely be pardoned. His charge was a dog and pony show for the pissed off unions who got displaced as a result of the Corporate Raiders during the 1980s who broke up the individual parts of inefficient multi-national conglomerates and sold them off at profit, an activity that was made possible for Milken’s junk bonds. Milken was persecuted for enabling corporate raiders to destroy too many Democratic constituencies, not for committing any real crimes of significance.
Tacitus_SGL on November 24, 2008 at 5:05 PM
firepilot,
I agree with you. I live in S TX and this is a really sore spot for lots here how they were treated.
L
letget on November 24, 2008 at 5:07 PM
Agreed.
perroviejo on November 24, 2008 at 5:10 PM
Pardon the guards…actually pardon all four, it seems nothing could be worse then then what Clinton did…
right2bright on November 24, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Ya gotta wonder if Ted Stevens will make the cut.
perroviejo on November 24, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Libby, Ramos, and Compean should be 1, 2, and 3 on his list. The first was not guilty. The latter two should have served at most a year, but firing them could have been justice enough. Unfortunately for them, their screw-up was on border security, something to which our current president was virulently opposed, and an ambitious prosecutor who knew the way the political winds were blowing thought it would be great for his career to send a message as a whole to those tasked with defending our borders. The prosecution of Ramos and Compean was, more than anything, a political prosecution designed to make a point, not to do justice.
thirteen28 on November 24, 2008 at 5:13 PM
Martha Stewart, who was convicted for telling a Federal agent that she didn’t do something that wasn’t illegal.
oddball on November 24, 2008 at 5:14 PM
Bush will pardon more narcotics smugglers before he pardons the agents he railroaded that were chasing his beloved narcotics smugglers.
Buddahpundit on November 24, 2008 at 5:15 PM
He should sell them on ebay to raise money for the bailouts.
rw on November 24, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Yeah, I hope he pardons Ramos and Compean just because it is the right thing to do but I hope to hell that he doesn’t even think about pardoning Edwin Edwards. I lived in La. throughout Edwards administrations and Edwards is a total scumbag. He is one of the reasons that La. has such a reputation as a crooked state. The only time I ever voted for that slimeball was when he ran against David Duke. I felt dirty for a month after that.
Ceroth on November 24, 2008 at 5:16 PM
Agents Compeon and Ramos
but GWB might find it difficult to pardon them, what with offending the illegals ( including Obama’s aunt Olive), LaRaza, and ofcourse the mexican government
macncheez on November 24, 2008 at 5:19 PM
Just in case anyone who has the ear of the President is reading here …
Pardon Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean!
Poll it, Ed.
DannoJyd on November 24, 2008 at 5:20 PM
Ramos and Compean and Libby definitely. They should have been pardoned immediately.
He should also pardon himself, Cheney and Rumsfeld, because you just know that the Dimwits are going to harass the three of them forever, otherwise.
LegendHasIt on November 24, 2008 at 5:21 PM
He pardoned Citi today
joey24007 on November 24, 2008 at 5:22 PM
The whole pardon system seems a little seedy. Do we really need this? Granted I haven’t dug into the history of it and there are plenty of bad convictions around but having leaders do this on the way out just looks a little third world to me.
lexhamfox on November 24, 2008 at 5:23 PM
Just in case anyone who has the ear of the President is reading here …Pardon Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean! Poll it, Ed.
AMEN!
Dingbat63 on November 24, 2008 at 5:23 PM
with how conservative he has been acting lately he will probably pardon that trooper that Palin tried to get um “removed”
joey24007 on November 24, 2008 at 5:26 PM
If Bush will at least end his presidency with pardons of
Ditto. Should be first on his list.
fogw on November 24, 2008 at 5:29 PM
Pardon me, for owning firearms which violate laws that Obama will sign.
Right_of_Attila on November 24, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Agreed. That said, given the magnitude Clinton’s ‘Friends and Family’ pardon program, I’m sure whatever Bush does will look miserly.
Dee2008 on November 24, 2008 at 5:31 PM
Free Compean and Ramos.
Ludwig on November 24, 2008 at 5:36 PM
Bush won’t pardon Ramos and Compean.
I am surprised to see so many on HA calling for their pardon. The sentiments in my area of Texas are exactly the opposite.
I think he’s finished with Libby, too. I don’t think we’ll see a pardon for Scooter.
conservative_in_texas on November 24, 2008 at 5:37 PM
Free Compean and Ramos.
but I’m not going to hold my breath..
DaveC on November 24, 2008 at 5:43 PM
You live in an area with many illegal drug runners who don’t want to be shot for breaking the law?
DaveC on November 24, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Why?
Buy Danish on November 24, 2008 at 5:46 PM
What part of TX is that? Why don’t the ppl there not want to pardon the border agents?
macncheez on November 24, 2008 at 5:46 PM
I wonder if he will pardon Scott McClellan.
Steve Z on November 24, 2008 at 5:46 PM
How about pardons for all those who water-boarded detainees at Gitmo?
Steve Z on November 24, 2008 at 5:48 PM
Corr:
Why do the ppl there not want to pardon the border agents?
macncheez on November 24, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Seems unlikely Jorge Boosh will pardon Ramos and Compean, plus the other two agents who were railroaded by his “pal” Johnnie Sutton.
After all, there is plenty of reason to believe that ol’ Jorge himself, acting at the behest of his Mexican buddyroos, was cheerleading Sutton’s efforts.
But it would be a decent — and judicious — gesture to the Rule of Law, a doctrine he has abused so often.
To me, this is the defining issue of his presidency. Not how he responded to the WOT (when he got that mean man who tried to off Daddy) and saddled us with yet another wasteful government agency in the form of the DHS, not his hideous, profligate ways with our money.
Ramos and Compean were upholding the nation’s laws. Their “victim” was an illegal and a serial drug-runner. If Boosh wants to align himself with that crowd, he is worse than I thought, and his place on the list of truly horrible Presidents is assured.
MrScribbler on November 24, 2008 at 5:55 PM
To quote Tony Snow, “People lobbying for a presidential pardon or any other intervention on behalf of the agents should review the evidence.”
Compean and Ramos committed serious crimes. They deliberately shot at an unarmed man in the back without justification, destroyed evidence to cover it up, and lied about it. A jury of their peers heard the facts and voted to convict.
I am sympathetic to their families and to their plight, but Bush will not pardon them.
conservative_in_texas on November 24, 2008 at 5:57 PM
He should, but he won’t. With this, the border issue, and all his profilgate spending, he has lost any/all respect I’ve had for him.
urbancenturion on November 24, 2008 at 6:00 PM
That would be swwwwweeeeeet! She hates Bush. Was gushing about Obama on her show this morning according to Ingraham.
How funny if Bush pardoned her!
Chewy the Lab on November 24, 2008 at 6:05 PM
The DOJ actually used a Mexican drug dealer as a witness, gave him medical care in the US,gave him immunity, brought him over at taxpayer expense, and he was even arrested again for bringing drugs into the US and that was kept from the Jury.
Sutton charged them with using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, which is really hard to fathom, and that carries a mandatory 10 year sentence.
That is usually reserved for things like Murder and Armed Robbery.
firepilot on November 24, 2008 at 6:13 PM
Free Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean………………. and give them their jobs back!
…………………. and while you’re at it, put little Johnny Sutton in jail.
Seven Percent Solution on November 24, 2008 at 6:13 PM
I thought they shot a drug-runner in the butt after he failed to heed their warning to stop.
fogw on November 24, 2008 at 6:13 PM
If Marc Rich can be pardoned..
Perhaps Mr. Bush could consider Pelosi and Reid?
:)
Paul Murphy on November 24, 2008 at 6:19 PM
Sorry gang, but I think the Campean/Ramos thing is a dead horse. I believe Bush already turned that request down. :(
Chewy the Lab on November 24, 2008 at 6:24 PM
Conservative_in_texas……………. Yeah, Ramos and Compean were just hanging out along the border, lying in wait for the next innocent illegal alien who was smuggling drugs to walk on by, and shoot him in the butt for fun.
Conservative_in_texas, how about idiot_with_his_head_up_his_a##_in_texas.
Seven Percent Solution on November 24, 2008 at 6:27 PM
It would be great if Bush pardoned Conrad Black, who never should have been up in court in the first place, but I don’t think the two are acquainted in any way.
aengus on November 24, 2008 at 6:36 PM
I think you are the one who should review the evidence…this was a railroad job from the get-go. The eveidence wasn’t “covered up” by them, the man may have been unarmed, but how many drug dealers are unarmed as they cross the border…and better restate again about being “shot in the back”.
You have so many misrepresentations, it shows your bias…
right2bright on November 24, 2008 at 6:43 PM
W.should pardon all scions of slave-owners and short-circuit the reparations B.S.
Would be funny watching the apopleptic race baiters pressure Obama to reverse it.
whitetop on November 24, 2008 at 6:43 PM
Being “shot in the back” was the liberal way of describing the event…he was shot in the butt, from the left side…after 14 other shots were fired to stop the drug smuggler from escaping…
right2bright on November 24, 2008 at 6:49 PM
Have you ever noticed how these posters on conservative blogs that feel the need to describe themselves as “conservative” in their handles are usually suspect at best?
Buddahpundit on November 24, 2008 at 6:55 PM
Here ya go.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27895909
a capella on November 24, 2008 at 6:55 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_pardons
corona on November 24, 2008 at 7:06 PM
Lou Dobbs is reporting 14 pardons for drug dealers et al
I hope Obama approved GWB’s pardons
macncheez on November 24, 2008 at 7:08 PM
“Martha Stewart, who was convicted for telling a Federal agent that she didn’t do something that wasn’t illegal.”
Close enough she was convicted of telling the Fed’s “NO, she didn’t receive a phone call from X”
If she had said “I don’t recall” she would not have been charged or convicted.
The “crime” Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were convicted of was “not filling out a report” to their supervisor informing the supervisor that a shooting had taken place.
The logic behind this rule is that the supervisor MUST be informed of any shooting (in writing). Fair enough and yes they did not fill out the report.
And it is true that they “Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean” did pick up the shell casings after the shooting.
It is also true that Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean had help from other agents in picking up the shell casings.
Among the “agents” helping pick up the casings?
Yep ya know what’s coming don’t ya?
Yep the supervisor who MUST be informed of any shooting.
Does anyone think the supervisor DID NOT KNOW a shooting had happened?
Oh, it is because guns were involved that Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean got 10 years for not filling out the paper work.
DSchoen on November 24, 2008 at 7:19 PM
Does your “part of Texas” include the other half of Sutton’s marital bed?
I lived in one of the most “La Raza” parts of Texas during this fiasco before moving to CA, and even there what you just described couldn’t be any further from the truth.
pffffffffffffft.
selias on November 24, 2008 at 7:31 PM
Simply Eloquent.
jerrytbg on November 24, 2008 at 7:32 PM
The Amirault family: victims of 1980s day care abuse hysteria and manipulative interrogation of children
Wethal on November 24, 2008 at 7:37 PM
Won’t it depend on who pays him the biggest bribes? Oh, sorry–wrong Administration, it was the guy before him.
andycanuck on November 24, 2008 at 7:46 PM
“The eveidence wasn’t “covered up” by them, the man may have been unarmed,”
And he may have been armed. He made his way back into Mexico without being arrested.
The so called “covered up” was picking up their shell casings along with their supervisor and not filing a report to their supervisor informing the supervisor that a shooting had occurred.
This is a case of applying the rules to the letter and disregarding the reason why the rule exist.
DSchoen on November 24, 2008 at 7:55 PM
Frankly, this case left a very bad taste in my mouth…
Esp when you consider ALL of the facts…
Not just what the jury heard.
jerrytbg on November 24, 2008 at 8:03 PM
Release the Border Patrol agents, then throw Bush’s buddy Johnny Sutton IN jail!
try again later on November 24, 2008 at 8:11 PM
No pardon for any government official, elected or appointed, who has been convicted of misusing their office!
Release the Border Patrol Agents and clear their names…
Gohawgs on November 24, 2008 at 8:35 PM
I’ll second that and include Bush in the deal.
That was a criminal travesty. He should have pardoned the guy a lot sooner; it was a media manufactured issue from the get-go.
Pardon the Haditha Marines!
Feedie on November 24, 2008 at 8:54 PM
Libby was the scapegoat for every frustrated Bush and Cheney hater in the country, tried and convicted in politicized proceedings which stretched the boundaries of prosecutorial propriety and defied any credible measure of accountability. Libby shouldered that burden with dignity and without complaint, and paid a high price, both personally and professionally, in the President’s stead. Libby deserves a pardon for a life honorably lived in public service to his nation, his President, and the countless others who benefited from his generosity of spirit. He should not be expected to court his own humiliation by presenting himself as a supplicant for clemency. The opprobrium which might greet such a pardon is a paltry price to pay for the mortifications Libby endured on the President’s behalf, and if Bush does not pardon him, it is the quality of Bush’s moral conscience I would question.
whitetop: “Would be funny watching the apopleptic race baiters pressure Obama to reverse it.”
I assume part of your fun would include knowing that Obama can’t reverse a predecessor’s pardon, right?
JM Hanes on November 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
I hope Ramos and Campean are pardoned. If not I will always regard Bush with disgust. I would also like to see Duke Cunninghams sentence reduced to time served because of his valor during the Vietnam War.
Dennis D on November 24, 2008 at 9:24 PM
The alleged victim was allowed to take the fifth. The only case in US history where this has happened or will likely ever happen again. Meanwhile, after the Bush Team succeeded at preventing the defense from questioning the “victim” about his history, they led their victim witness to testify about how he knew nothing about drug trafficking even though they knew that he had been caught red handed months later as he was trafficking thousands of pounds of narcotics using DHS VIP border pass that allowed him to bring the narcotics in unchecked.
It’s nearly impossible to wrap your mind around how dirty these Texas Bush cronies are, it causes nausea to really look at it closely, which is why they aren’t in jail and Ramos and Compean are in jail.
Buddahpundit on November 24, 2008 at 9:29 PM
The lefty rags are already running this as “Bush is Friend to Criminals and Drug Dealers.”
I got to hear the “tolerant left” ranting about it today. Oddly, not a word about Clinton’s pardons, of course, or how few Bush has granted so far.
Merovign on November 24, 2008 at 9:49 PM
Both Bush appointed prosecutors, BTW. And Fitz, the one who went hard after Cheney’s staff in the Plame idiocy even though HE KNEW the leak came from Powell’s staff, is the same guy who decided to postpone the Rezko sentencing until after the election.
And I believe it was after the Libby show trial that Cheney made his famous comment that the VP doesn’t have to follow all the commands from the POTUS…the left threw fits, but it turned out that Cheney was correct.
Cheney gave McCain a very nice, wholehearted endorsement before the election, when Bush never did.
Just random thoughts, but Paulson/Bernanke/Cox isn’t the only thing smelly about the White House lately.
funky chicken on November 24, 2008 at 9:55 PM
Ramos & Compean !
Ramos & Compean !
Ramos & Compean !
I’ve been following the case closely. I protested outside Sutton’s office, got my picture in the San Antonio paper and the Texas Monthly Magazine at the protest. Here’ the poop: The jury didn’t know that the weapon discharge charge carried a 10yr mandatory sentence. Sutton admitted this on a television interview. The rest of the ‘offenses’ were two year sentences. We are coming up on two years, I seriously think that they need to be pardoned. They will have served time for all but one of the charges. And, there is actually doubt as to the validity of the weapons discharge count in the first place.
They need to be pardoned.
cannonball on November 24, 2008 at 10:24 PM
Pardon me. I just burped.
- The Cat
MirCat on November 25, 2008 at 12:29 AM
Pardon Ramos and Compean now!! Please write the White House and demand President Bush pardon these two border guards who were only trying to do an impossible job under chaotic circumstances without enough resources. Please write Bush today!!
Dollayo on November 25, 2008 at 12:44 AM
I thought they shot a drug-runner in the butt after he failed to heed their warning to stop.
fogw on November 24, 2008 at 6:13 PM
That is right! They didn’t shoot him in the back. Even if they did, so what! He was running and had broken the law. Those two need to be pardoned. That was the most unjust verdict ever! They protect us from hoods like that man. Then they get locked up. Free The Border Agents!
sheebe on November 25, 2008 at 2:22 AM
Pardon Ramos and Campeon–they have done enough time already. I think the jury had their heads up their A**ES nine yards to take the word of a drug runner over the Border Patrolmen. Also–give the BP agents rifles so they can bring down the drug smugglers–not just pink them in the butt!
John Bibb
rocketman on November 25, 2008 at 3:27 AM
Just saw this headline on Google News:
Bush Issues 14 Pardons to Criminals
–Voice of America
…as opposed to issuing pardons to innocents, I assume…
Owen Glendower on November 25, 2008 at 10:08 AM