Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Pardons: Bush I vs. Bush II   [Byron York]

The president's statement explaining his commutation of Libby's sentence is an obvious attempt to find a middle ground between those demanding that Libby be pardoned and those demanding that he go to jail.  What's remarkable about it, since the Libby clemency was basically a political act, is Bush's reluctance to embrace any political argument to explain his action.  (He characterized the arguments of critics of the CIA leak investigation but did not endorse them.)  That stands in striking contrast to President George H.W. Bush's pardons of Iran-contra figures in December 1992.  In that case, the elder Bush delivered a passionate pardon statement that condemned an investigation with deep roots in politics:

The prosecutions of the individuals I am pardoning represent what I believe is a profoundly troubling development in the political and legal climate of our country: the criminalization of policy differences. These differences should be addressed in the political arena, without the Damocles sword of criminality hanging over the heads of some of the combatants. The proper target is the president, not his subordinates; the proper forum is the voting booth, not the courtroom. . . . It is my hope that the action I am taking today will begin to restore these disputes to the battleground where they properly belong.

Obviously, G.H.W. Bush didn't see his hope realized.  But he used a political pardon to make a political statement, something his son declined to do.  There's more in my article on how presidents use pardons.

07/03 09:21 AMShare