The headline in The Onion may have nailed it: “In Thanksgiving Tradition, Bush Pardons Scooter Libby In Giant Turkey Costume.”
Skip the turkey costume, and the reality may not be far off: Many are betting that Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff will be among those granted clemency before the president steps down.
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Bush had already commuted Libby’s prison sentence after his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. But wiping Libby’s record clean would enable him to practice law again.
Libby is unlikely to be the only last-minute pardon. Other top prospects, listed by ProPublica, are said to include:
- Michael Milken, the 1980s junk bond king whose pardon application is being handled by former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson – a close friend of the president’s, and the lawyer who successfully argued Bush v. Gore before the U.S. Supreme Court.
- James Tobin, Bush’s 2004 New England campaign chairman who raised more than $200,000 for the president’s re-election bid. Tobin was indicted in October for making false statements to the FBI in connection with the bureau’s investigation of the plot to jam Democratic Party phones in New Hampshire in 2002;
- Brent Wilkes, the defense contractor who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in February for furnishing former California Congressman Randy Cunningham with yachts, vacations and other luxury items in exchange for lucrative contracts, because of his cooperation with federal investigators;
- J. Steven Griles, a deputy Interior secretary during Bush’s first term who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charge sin connection with his 2005 Senate testimony regarding the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal.
Presidential pardons are a long political tradition, embraced by both parties. In his final days, for instance, George H.W. Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, along with 10 others who had been convicted in the Iran-Contra scandal, an arms for hostage program during the Reagan administration (when Bush was vice president).
That raised eyebrows, but nothing like the reaction to Bill Clinton’s pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich, whose ex-wife Denise Rich had been a major contributor to his presidential library and to the Democratic Party.
The Rich decision, which became the subject of Congressional and criminal investigations, is likely to come up again in the confirmation hearings for Eric H. Holder Jr, Barack Obama’s choice for attorney general, given Holder’s involvement in the decision.
(One interesting historic footnote: Rich’s attorney from 1985 until the spring of 2000 was Scooter Libby.)
By comparison with his predecessors, the younger Bush has been downright niggardly in his use of pardons, granting clemency to only 171 people over eight years.
Most of those have been for penny-ante crimes. For instance, Leslie O. Collier – one of 14 people he pardoned last week – was pardoned for his conviction for the unauthorized use of a pesticide in killing bald eagles.
Bush’s most significant clemency to date was commuting Libby’s prison sentence. But of course, he still has almost two months to make up for lost time.
Among those who have submitted applications are disgraced Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones, suspended National Football League quarterback Michael Vick, home living doyenne Martha Stewart, former Enron executives Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow, jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff and convicted former California Congressman Randy Cunningham.
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