Legal News

Bush Pardon Party Goes Out With a Whimper

By Dan Slater

Maybe it’s us, but watching the former President of the United States, George W. Bush, helicopter out of the inauguration was a bit surreal. Perhaps we just expected more. But it seemed like Bush’s last days in office passed without much fanfare. Weren’t there supposed to be pardons, at least?

Associated Press

Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush board a Marine helicopter at the Capitol in Washington after Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP)

“I was shocked when I heard this was the only [pardon],” Margaret Colgate Love, a former DOJ pardon lawyer, told the Times. Love, who represents about 20 imprisoned clients who were seeking clemency, was referring to Bush’s surprise move to commute the sentences of just two men on Monday. “There are a lot of disappointed lawyers in this town today,” said Love.

We’ve tracked the Bush Pardon Party extensively — see here, here, here, here and here — and we’d been gearing up to report a slew of 11th hour pardons and commutations, but all we have for you is this: Yesterday, Bush commuted the sentences of Jose A. Compean and Ignacio Ramos, two former Border Patrol agents imprisoned for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.

The commutations for Compean and Ramos bring Bush’s total number of pardons and commutations to 200, the fewest of any two-term president in modern times.

As the Times notes, there’d been speculation that Bush might act in a number of high-profile cases, including those of I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to the former Veep, and the financier Michael R. Milken. Bush was also said to have been considering preemptive action that could have shielded former AG Alberto R. Gonzales and other government officials or intelligence officers who the Times says could face legal liability over their roles in interrogations, surveillance or other Bush administration policies.

Other politically-connected felons that got locked out of the Pardon Party were former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R.), former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards (D) and former GOP congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham.

Two years ago, the Times notes, Bush told a Texas TV station that he planned to review all the facts in the cases of Compean and Ramos to see if a pardon was warranted. “I just want people to take a sober look at the case,” said Bush. He noted that the case had generated “a lot of emotions” and added that “Border Patrol and law enforcement have no stronger supporter than me.”

LB Readers, let us know: Did any of Bush’s omissions surprise you? Alternatively, anyone out there that you think Bush should have pardoned but didn’t?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 20, 2009 (boomark / email).