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WASHINGTON — The president’s power to pardon is one provision in the Constitution that some members of Congress find unsettling, especially at the end of a president’s term.
Not surprising since Congress has no power to stop or repeal a presidential pardon.
But since pardon controversies usually erupt only every four or eight years, those who want to curb the pardon power by amending the Constitution never have had enough momentum to do so.
Article II, section 2 of the Constitution says the president “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
If President George W. Bush were to issue pardons of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby, or others, would the Democratic-controlled Congress pass a constitutional amendment to limit presidents' pardon power?
Probably not.
James Pfiffner, a presidential scholar at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University said, “I see no likelihood that the Constitution would be amended to limit the pardon power. It is just too difficult to amend the Constitution.”
The debates over pardons at the end of presidents’ terms tend to be quickly forgotten.
President Bill Clinton’s final day pardons of fugitive commodities dealer Marc Rich and others were front-page news for several weeks after Clinton left office, but Congress and the news media soon shifted their sights to other topics.
Reputation a deterrent to bad pardons?
With no way for Congress to stop a president’s pardons, pardon critics fall back on arguments that a president ought to worry about his reputation before handing out dubious pardons.
The New York Times editorial page, never a Bush supporter, said last week that “if he wants to try to reclaim his reputation,” he should not issue pardons to administration alumni such as Libby, whose sentence Bush has already commuted.
But as Bill Clinton proved, “legacy” and historical reputation are changeable concepts.
In 1974, as a congressional candidate, Clinton railed against President Gerald Ford’s pardon of his predecessor Richard Nixon.
White House tapes made clear Nixon had worked to block a criminal investigation of the 1972 break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate in Washington.
Nixon was forced to resign. His successor, Ford, then pardoned him for any Watergate-related crimes he might have committed.
An outraged Congress briefly considered action: Sen. Walter Mondale, D-Minn., proposed a constitutional amendment allowing a pardon to be rescinded by a two-thirds votes of both House and Senate.
“This pardon has again opened the wounds of Watergate,” Clinton told voters in 1974. “It has undermined respect for law and order… It has tormented the families of those already in prison for the administration’s political crimes.”
Clinton praises Ford for Nixon pardon
Twenty-five years later, as president, Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Ford and praised him for giving Nixon the pardon.
The current version of the end-of-presidency pardon speculation heated up this week as Weekly Standard editor William Kristol wrote that the president should consider pardoning “everyone who served in good faith in the war on terror, but whose deeds may now be susceptible to demagogic or politically inspired prosecution by some seeking to score political points.”
He said, “The CIA agents who waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the NSA officials who listened in on phone calls from Pakistan, should not have to worry about legal bills or public defamation.”
But Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., a harsh Bush critic, said last month, “If President Bush were to pardon key individuals involved in the misdeeds of his administration, from warrantless wiretapping to torture to the firing of U.S. attorneys for political reasons, the courts would be unable to address criminality, or pass judgment on the legality of some of the president's worst abuses.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., another Bush foe, has offered a non-binding resolution saying it would be “a dangerous abuse of the pardon power” for Bush to pardon officials of his administration.
Nadler wants attorney general-designate Eric Holder, once he takes office next year, to appoint an independent counsel to investigate “illegal acts by senior officials of the administration of President George W. Bush.”
But Nadler’s suggestion is an illustration of the check-mating power of the pardon. Even if Holder did appoint an independent counsel, that prosecutor would have no one to prosecute if they’d already been pardoned.
(Holder, as deputy attorney general under Clinton, played a role in the pardons of Rich and others, a topic he's likely to be questioned about during his confirmation hearings.)
In the rhetorical clash of “please pardon” versus “don’t you dare pardon,” the essential fact is this: Other than holding hearings after the fact, as it did with Clinton’s pardons eight years ago, Congress can do nothing about pardons it dislikes.
What the Framers thought
The debates at the 1787 constitutional convention as well as Supreme Court rulings have made it clear that the president’s power to pardon is sweeping, covering those who have been convicted of violations of federal law, those who have been indicted but not yet stood trial, and even those who have not yet been indicted.
The constitutional convention debated and overwhelmingly rejected a proposal requiring that the Senate concur in any pardons.
In light of how much the Framers of the Constitution feared monarchical power, why did they give the president such unlimited power?
One of the Framers, Alexander Hamilton, argued for assigning the pardon power to the president alone because in times of rebellion against the government “there are often critical moments, when a well-timed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquility” of the nation.
Convening Congress to debate pardons would take too long, he argued.
Ford, Bush, and Clinton weren’t worried about rebellions when they issued their famous pardons, although Ford did say he pardoned Nixon in order to avert a prosecution of the ex-president that would have divided the nation.
Recent presidents have used the pardon power to do justice as they saw it.
Pardons in Iran-contra affair
In 1992, Bush’s father President George H.W. Bush granted Christmas Eve pardons to former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other former officials for their roles in the Iran-Contra affair.
In that mid-1980s episode, now mostly forgotten, Reagan administration officials arranged for weapons to be shipped to Iran in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages held by the Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
But Bush said of Weinberger and the others accused in the Iran-contra episode, “their motivation — whether their actions were right or wrong — was patriotism.”
And he said those he pardoned “have already paid a price — in depleted savings, lost careers, anguished families — grossly disproportionate to any misdeeds or errors of judgment they may have committed.”
As contentious as the Iran-contra affair seemed in 1992, Bush was taking a step to make it history, to relegate it to place where people would no longer be debating it. He succeeded in doing that.
Whether his son could do something similar before his term ends on Jan. 20 is one of the intriguing final questions about the Bush presidency.
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 | Nadler Plans Constitutional Amendment To Curtail Pardon Power | Talking Points Memo | Fri Dec 5 | 1 |
| Role In Rich Pardon Disqualifies Holder For AG | ibdeditorials.com | Mon Dec 1 | 0 |
| Pardon Is Back in Focus for the Justice Nominee | The New York Times | Tue Dec 2 | 1 |
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{"commentId":4260195,"authorDomain":"jmbtaylor"}
crooks, criminals, infidels and the rest of the lot should be granted NOTHING. This practice has got to end and now would be an excellent time.
{"commentId":4260195,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"jmbtaylor"}
- 1 vote
#51 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:20 PM EST{"commentId":4260249,"authorDomain":"coolidge1"}
not only should he pardon them, he should give them the medal of honor
{"commentId":4260249,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"coolidge1"}
- 4 votes
#52 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:24 PM EST{"commentId":4260284,"authorDomain":"efcncmt"}
The reason this will never go away, is... Every polotician 'is' a crook, so they never know when they will need to be pardoned. I have never heard of a high level polotician actually going to jail for what they have done. It's the Ol' boys club. Prs elec Obama will be no different.
{"commentId":4260284,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"efcncmt"}
- 2 votes
#53 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:26 PM EST{"commentId":4260475,"authorDomain":"tweakley75"}
I hope Bush does pardon them they were trying to protect our country from terrorists and ther need to be more freedom in interagation to protect our nation from tyrants
{"commentId":4260475,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"tweakley75"}
- 2 votes
#54 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:38 PM EST{"commentId":4260525,"authorDomain":"westerngents"}
So with Bush and Obama wanting to pardon all of the ILLEGALS and grant them amnsety is OK..I think not...Cheney should definitely not be pardoned, as he is a criminal of the greatest magnitude..
{"commentId":4260525,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"westerngents"}
- 1 vote
#55 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:41 PM EST{"commentId":4260579,"authorDomain":"pacouno"}
What about the two border patrol agents who are in jail for doing their job I think they sould be considered for a pordon Ramos and Compean , of 11 and 12 years respectively, for their actions in the shooting and wounding of a Mexican drug smuggler who was granted full immunity to testify against them. The case has caused national outrage, and dozens of congressmen are publicly insisting President Bush grant an immediate pardon of the two law enforcement officers. Does this no matter?
{"commentId":4260579,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"pacouno"}
- 1 vote
#56 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:45 PM EST{"commentId":4260594,"authorDomain":"jayvinton"}
Get a grip people, remember all the rethoric just last month about "We won, We won".. remember that at the end of the Obama presidency and rail at who ever he pardons. Oh, I forgot, he nor his staff can do no wrong,.... for a minute.
I wish to see President Bush pardon only two people. The two border patrol agents accused of shooting an illegal drug smuggler in the butt as he attempted to run away. If your going to prosecute anyone.. prosecute the prosecutor who ramrodded this case for political gain.
{"commentId":4260594,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"jayvinton"}
- 2 votes
#57 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:46 PM EST{"commentId":4260599,"authorDomain":"hareears"}
If Bush thinking waterboarding is illegal why should fill he has to pardon people?
{"commentId":4260599,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"hareears"}
#58 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:46 PM EST{"commentId":4260634,"authorDomain":"greg33z28"}
once again media drives a partisan nail and everyone takes a side
well believe me this is accomplishing nothing but fueling partisan politics
we've seen this before,let's not give the do nothing congress another reason to do nothing
let history be the judge as all of them are worried how they'll be remembered
that will be their sentence
{"commentId":4260634,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"greg33z28"}
- 1 vote
#59 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:48 PM EST{"commentId":4260788,"authorDomain":"alanjsteinberg"}
I am sue OJ has a call into GWB and they will work something out.
{"commentId":4260788,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"alanjsteinberg"}
#60 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 1:59 PM EST{"commentId":4260846,"authorDomain":"mmn"}
Maybe Obama will pardon Leonard Peltier.
{"commentId":4260846,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"mmn"}
#61 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:03 PM EST{"commentId":4260906,"authorDomain":"alanjsteinberg"}
I am sure that when his time comes he will want to redistribute the jail time as well if he don't end up in there himself. Can he pardon himself?
{"commentId":4260906,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"alanjsteinberg"}
{"commentId":4260875,"authorDomain":"skipster56"}
It's too late to stop any Presidential pardon in this administration, but what you should look our for is who President elect Barrack Obama will pardon. I am sure Tony Renzo will be his first pick. He's already working on pardons for Gizmo. Count on it. Do something now to stop that and don't worry about what has already happened. That's the past and it's history. Worry about the future. That should be your first instinct.
{"commentId":4260875,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"skipster56"}
#62 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:04 PM EST{"commentId":4260881,"authorDomain":"nyecop"}
Let my tell you how it will probably work. Bush will pardon anyone and everyone he wants to, just as the past POTUS have done. Obama will probably pardon Bush and the wheel goes round and round. Get used to it folks.
{"commentId":4260881,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"nyecop"}
#63 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:04 PM EST{"commentId":4260895,"authorDomain":"jrpic323"}
If he pardons anyone it should be the 2 border patrol agents!!! Convict them for shooting a drug trafficer
{"commentId":4260895,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"jrpic323"}
- 2 votes
#64 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:05 PM EST{"commentId":4260923,"authorDomain":"sparemeplease"}
This article is nothing more than a tool to start an argument. The author is speculating on who HE believes GW will pardon - probably the ones HE would if HE were president. Nothing more.
{"commentId":4260923,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"sparemeplease"}
#65 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:07 PM EST{"commentId":4260987,"authorDomain":"baja-bandito"}
{"commentId":4260962,"authorDomain":"skipster56"}
spareme. You are 100% correct!. That is the media's way of controlling the country. They want to take credit for getting Obama elected, but if he fails, you will see them quickly change their attidtude. The media, especially MSNBC and The NY Times are whoremongers anyway.
{"commentId":4260962,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"skipster56"}
- 3 votes
#66 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:09 PM EST{"commentId":4266233,"authorDomain":"billandjanburker"}
The media certainly controlls the political scene. We all know the ones that are guilty of that....MSNBC is the worst of all.
{"commentId":4266233,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"billandjanburker"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4261108,"authorDomain":"ckostka"}
I'm more worried about Bush granting a pardon or commutation to former Gov. Ryan R-IL, who had a "license for bribes" scandal in the Secretary of State's office. Children died in an accident that resulted from a driver who got his trucker's license illegally with the money going to Ryan's re-election campaign. Ryan has never admitted his role in the cover-up and his taking of kickbacks but now feels he deserves to be released from prison because he and his wife are old and sick. I am sick of the "little woman" being roled out whenever these male politicans want sympathy.
{"commentId":4261108,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"ckostka"}
#67 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:21 PM EST{"commentId":4266298,"authorDomain":"billandjanburker"}
A lot of Illinois politicans won't admit their roles in dirty deeds...Ryan's only one of them.
{"commentId":4266298,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"billandjanburker"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4261131,"authorDomain":"kperry3673"}
I guess Clinton pardoned himself for lying under oath. Bush SHOULD pardon the two border patrol agents. If you don't live in the southern states then you don't see how many illegal aliens come across the border and commit crimes only to run back to the safety of the border. Hey, if you break the law, you might get shot. Is that new news to anyone? He should also let Plaxico Burris off because in the public eye, he is guilty of being an idiot.
{"commentId":4261131,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"kperry3673"}
#68 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:22 PM EST{"commentId":4261207,"authorDomain":"kperry3673"}
Who should we pardon next Barrabas or Jesus? This is how it all got started, setting the guilty free.....
{"commentId":4261207,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"kperry3673"}
#69 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:27 PM EST{"commentId":4261283,"authorDomain":"loisaustin"}
If GW Bush has one small speck of redeeming grace at all left in him, he will pardon border agents Ramos and Compean and then see to it that Johnny Sutton is removed and brought up on charges himself. This case has smelt fishy from the beginning and all protests from the public and Senators and Congressmen has been met with deaf ears and total indifference by Bush. It is disgraceful (and scarey) that our laws and attorneys and judges protect and reward Mexican drug runners and imprison our law enforcement personnel for doing the job they were hired to do.
{"commentId":4261283,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"loisaustin"}
- 2 votes
#70 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:32 PM EST{"commentId":4261301,"authorDomain":"kperry3673"}
AMEN
{"commentId":4261301,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"kperry3673"}
{"commentId":4261338,"authorDomain":"alanjsteinberg"}
I do not think he had the speck to start with. What is in it for him is the question?$$$$
{"commentId":4261338,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"alanjsteinberg"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4261380,"authorDomain":"kperry3673"}
We all have that speck, its what we do with it that matters. G DUB just let all of the money hungry bankers and warmongers drag him down too.
{"commentId":4261380,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"kperry3673"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4261550,"authorDomain":"sparemeplease"}
First - neither agent has ASKED for a pardon - That would imply guilt
Second - if they asked for the pardon they would have to ADMIT guilt - that would ruin any opportunity to get their jobs back.
By NOT asking for a pardon they keep the illusion of innocence and the sympathetic ear of any who believe they were railroaded. Let them wait until PE Obama grants the pardon - anytime AFTER January 20, 2009. He doesn't have to wait four years. Why don't YOU petition for the pardon for them - anyone can you know.
{"commentId":4261550,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"sparemeplease"}
{"commentId":4261692,"authorDomain":"loisaustin"}
I have signed three petitions and sent two letters and a couple of emails to GWB. No response or acknowledgment from the WH to my correspondence and The Decider has Decided to ignore requests for their release. Meanwhile they still sit in prison for 10 more years serving more time for doing their jobs than many rapists and child molestors receive and in some cases people serving time for murder.
{"commentId":4261692,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"loisaustin"}
{"commentId":4261851,"authorDomain":"sparemeplease"}
Obviously there is reason why they have NOT received the pardon - maybe they don't want to follow the guidelines necessary to accept the pardon. If that is the case - no response is needed.
My grandfather was pardoned in 1954. He had to agree to strict guidelines in order to accept it. To this day I have no idea what he did or why he was pardoned. All I know is my grandfather and my father never talked about it before their deaths. I found out while going through my fathers papers upon his death last year.
{"commentId":4261851,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"sparemeplease"}
{"commentId":4262226,"authorDomain":"loisaustin"}
I personally cannot think of any reason why Ramos and Compean would not follow the guidelines necessary to accept the pardon. I feel quite sure if they were released/pardoned they would not happily and with great joy have any desire to return to their old jobs. Would you want a job that sets you up and turns its back on you and a justice system such as the one they have been subject to? All you have to do is look at the faces of these two men to see how beaten, discouraged and hopeless they are at this point. As to your grandfather, I would imagine he happily agreed to those strict guidelines when he was pardoned just as Ramos and Compean would. The truth is, they have not been given the opportunity to accept anything because The Decider has Decided.
{"commentId":4262226,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"loisaustin"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4265880,"authorDomain":"billandjanburker"}
lulu...Absolutely! Ramos & Compean should not be imprisoned...they never should have had to go through a trial--makes me furious.
{"commentId":4265880,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"billandjanburker"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4261480,"authorDomain":"kalane"}
Torture away when folks blow destroy the WTC, Pentagon and other locations and kill innocent Americans, they don't torture us. they just kill the soldiers and drag then around the streets or what about the web casts of beheadings, guess we need to be civil but others can be animals...
{"commentId":4261480,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"kalane"}
- 1 vote
#71 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 2:43 PM EST{"commentId":4261941,"authorDomain":"loisaustin"}
Anyone interested in writing The Decider can find a fax that you can send free of charge urging him to pardon Ramos and Compean at http://www.numbersusa.com. It is, as I said, free and is an excellent, well-written letter. Check it out but don't count on anything worthwhile coming from The Decider as, after all, he apparently is telling us he has Decided so we just need to shut up and let him do his "hard work."
{"commentId":4261941,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"loisaustin"}
#72 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 3:12 PM EST{"commentId":4262185,"authorDomain":"readermystery43"}
It looks to me like every former President has made very questionable pardons. This is not party specific. Google Presidential Pardons for yourselves and see. Some actually deserved to be pardoned, others not.
{"commentId":4262185,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"readermystery43"}
- 1 vote
#73 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 3:27 PM EST{"commentId":4262372,"authorDomain":"badmnrisn"}
What about those two border patrol agents (Ramos and Campean) sentenced to 11 years for shooting a confirmed drug smuggler and illegal alien!!!!! Where are their pardons? Bush speaks of patriotism as an excuse for his father's pardon of Weinberger -these guys were doing their job!! The News Media hasn't been speaking of this either. But then again, what are the odds that Bush will go against his Texan lawyer friend who put them away. He continues down his journey of being the worst president in history.......even to his last days in office!
{"commentId":4262372,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"badmnrisn"}
- 1 vote
#74 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 3:37 PM EST{"commentId":4263641,"authorDomain":"langum12"}
Besides Scooter Libby, who in the Bush admin has been charged, tried, and convicted of anything illegal? Its all bluster and BS by the left to make themselves look lilly white to their constituants, a cover up to their enthusiasm to go to war against Iraq untill the libral left started raising a stink about it. If I were a betting man, I'd say odds are 5:1 that no one else in the Bush admin gets charged with anything, as it should be. If they do go after Bush, Chaney, etc., then it will be politics as usual from the party of hope and change, come to think of it, thats all it will be anyway. By the way scooter should be pardoned, he never should have been convicted in the first place, the whole thing was a lefty led witch hunt.
{"commentId":4263641,"threadId":"432405","contentId":"2168568","authorDomain":"langum12"}
- 1 vote
#75 - Tue Dec 2, 2008 4:45 PM EST{"canLink":false,"threadId":"432405","isPrivate":false}
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