Pre-emptive Strike Against Bush Pardons

BY CHRIS PETHERICK

Democrats are trying to initiate a preemptive strike against President Bush to stop him from handing out blanket pardons to officials who may have committed war crimes. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) recently introduced H. Res. 1531, which condemns pardons of U.S. officials who may have engaged in or condoned torture or illegal detentions, and calls on the next attorney general to initiate prosecutions if he suspects anyone acted illegally. 

While the measure can’t quite be characterized as “shock and awe,” it does state for the public record that it would be an abuse of power for the Bush administration to grant immunity to those who acted illegally. The official title of H. Res. 1531, which has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, is somewhat broad. It reads, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the president of the United States should not issue pardons to senior members of his administration during the final 90 days of his term of office.” 

But the language in the measure is specific as to whom it is targeting. The bill is clearly not meant to be directed against those wealthy criminal donors or well-connected corporate crooks, who usually get presidential pardons. It is intended to stop Bush from granting immunity to war criminals, who served in his administration. 

Quoting James Madison, the legislation states, “it is the sense of the House of Representatives that James Madison was correct in his observation that ‘if the president be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds [to] believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty.’ ” 

The hope for any teeth in the legislation comes from provisions, which call for setting up “a special investigative commission, or a select committee [to] be tasked with investigating possible illegal activities by senior officials of the administration of President GeorgeW. Bush, including, if necessary, any abuse of the president’s pardon power.” 

Finally, it seeks to have the next U.S. attorney general appoint an independent counsel to look into and prosecute any illegal acts carried out by senior officials of the Bush administration. “This resolution declares that we will not tolerate a last-minute attempt by President Bush to shelter his cronies—cronies who may well be guilty of serious criminal offenses—from the full force of the law,” said Nadler. 

“President Bush must not excuse his own officials from possibly illegal acts committed outside the context of their official duties. Such pardons would merely obfuscate the truth and amount to a gross miscarriage of justice.” So far, Bush has authorized only 157 pardons and six commutations of sentences. 

Some 2,300 people applied for a pardon or commutation in 2008, the largest number for any single year since at least 1900, according to reports. Some of the more notable pardons in recent years included George H.W. Bush’s forgiveness of individuals connected to Iran-Contra, including six whose trials might have exposed Bush’s involvement in the affair. Bill Clinton, who pardoned 140 people, gave clemency to Marc Rich in his last term, because the businessman’s former wife had donated large sums to the Democratic Party and the Clinton Library.

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