Feingold To Bush: Don't Abuse Pardon Power

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) calls on President Bush in a Salon article not to abuse his pardon power:

A departing president probably can't help thinking about the judgment of history. At the end of eight years, President Bush likely isn't any different. With the nation's attention focused on his successor, it may seem as if there is little opportunity left for the current president to affect how he will be viewed. But there is one power left -- the power of the pardon -- that could, if it's abused, create a controversy that both the president and the public could live without.

The power of the pardon is close to absolute. Short of interfering with their own impeachment, presidents can pardon whomever they choose. At the end of his term, however, this president should think twice before issuing pardons that call his judgment, and the integrity of the rule of law, into question.

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. Issuing such pardons now would be particularly egregious, since voters just issued such a strong condemnation of the Bush administration at the ballot box. There is nothing to prevent President Bush from using the pardon in such a short-sighted and self-serving manner -- except, perhaps, public pressure that may itself be a window on the judgment of history. Everyone who can exert that pressure, from members of Congress to the press and the public, should express their views on whether it would be appropriate for President Bush to use his pardon power in this way.

...

The current president, who has shown such disrespect for the rule of law during his term, will have a chance to show to all of us, and to history, whether he respects it enough not to short-circuit the judicial process after he leaves office.

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[CaptD]

How about Stevens and his HUMBLE PIE MUMBLING farewell?

Glad he is OUT, I hope they take his Senate GOLD PLATED retirement package away! Now he knows how real Americans feel when they break the law and get caught... Jail time at Club Fed?

I look for Bush Jr. to pardon him as he leaves; because Stevens knows to many secrets about the Rep. in Congress and BOTH BUSH Presidents.....

+ besides pardons, I believe that Bush is putting the finishing touches on his good bye presents for the US & the World... Big oil is now positioned to buy up Corp. America and Obama will have MANY MORE problems to deal with, as Bush's in-action is driving the US into MAJOR economic collapse; I only hope he does not bomb Iran as his last going away "gift".

Unless Obama gets Bush to stand up and ask for joint effort now, the economy will continue to go downward...

History may note that Bush's final gift to America was the "Worldwide Woes" or FWW 1 (Financial World War One) that will make it MUCH harder for Obama to change as much as he indicated during his election speeches. Then in four years, the Rep.'s will say that he did not keep his promises to the American people.

Our solution now is to call Bush's bluff and demand that HE NOT MAKE THINGS WORSE for America!

[ObjectiveRealist]

Very well said. It would be a very pleasant surprise if history records Bush conspicuously not using the pardon to place his associates above the law, compared to recent Presidents. That would be some real food for thought.

[campgranata]

I really like Feingold but this is much to do about nothing; just as Clinton's pardons for pay, favors, and a senate seat for his wife, could not be rescinded or challenged neither will Bush's.

[Bearangaria]

Where is the gratitude and respect for Senator Feingold's courage to speak up out
and honorably on the issues that most Dems ran from?

[Yermammy]

He's always had it from me, in spades. He fought like a lion against the FISA bill. For that he'll always have my loyalty. Now on to Impeaching this President and Vice President. That don't have pardoning powers once Impeachment Proceedings are underway. He'd be out of office before a verdict would come and then the War Crimes inquiry begins. Let's get on it. There's still time.

[littlewing157]

If Bush were to pardon those involved in the illegal wire-tapping and torture, wouldn't he be 'admitting' that there was criminal activity going on? Then, couldn't prosecutors go after them even after a pardon?

I would hope so, but I'm not sure if it could work that way. Anybody on here know a bit of law?

[gina51]

Russ Feingold is My Senator and I am very proud of him as is all of Wisconsin...

[LaurenMarie984]

from what I understand, Feingold is leading investigations into Bush's unconstitutional activities. The whole country is proud of him. And, since both the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect were constitutional lawyers, that helps the hope on the side of justice.

[blueskybigstar]

I have just learned that there was a president impeached a month after he already stepped down from office. Impeachment after the change of power would logically remove all pardons, and there is also the argument that a sitting president can remove pardons. These are incredible times.

[Deidroni]

Feingold is by far one of the best and brightest Senators. Some other outstanding Senators include, Leahy, Boxer, Whitehouse, Durbin and Kennedy.

No matter what the Congress asks of the Bush Administration to limit pardons, they will continue to abuse their power till midnight of January 19, 2009.

[Ron1951]

...and Bush is going to listen to Feingold and not pardon his partners in crime? Sure, when he/! freezes over.

But some sort of limitations are necessary, and addressing this to prevent future abuse of this presidential power certainly makes good sense. We don't need any more Marc Riches or Scooter Libbys.

[HDR]

Feingold and Sanders are the only two uncompromised, sane voices in the senate.

[ErnestineBass]

Hear! Hear! If only we had 98 more just like 'em...sigh.

[GuyFawkes]

Was that Feingold giving Stevens a standing ovation today in the senate?

[That Guy]

Blanket pardons for the Bush and Co team are irrelevant if Obama signs the US on the the International Criminal Court. A pardon only protects you from being tried in the US. I hope Cheney likes the Hague.

[VikingQuest]

So how did Clinton do on his pardons?

I know our new attorney general allowed Rich to basically buy freedom.

[Topsailsman]

You pretend to be someone who is impartial, that all politicians are bad, etc. etc. but then you post all of these partisan statements. I would expect someone who pretends to be common sense as you pretend, that you would say "Bush should not get away with the things Clinton did" or "its time to stop the kind of pardons that Clinton did".

[fedupinfla]

I agree. Whats wrong is wrong. Period. To me, it was just as wrong when Clinton did it. But Bush is now trying to up the ante by PREEMPTIVELY pardoning people for participating in illegal torture. Even Clinton didn't have the balls to try THAT.

[GuyFawkes]

Feingold tried to jump on the McCain bandwagon after the RNC when he was up in the polls (from TPM):

"I think the guy calls 'em as he sees 'em, and as president would call 'em as he sees 'em, and would make people mad all over the place because it wouldn't fit anybody's playbook," said Feingold, who teamed up with McCain to rewrite federal campaign laws.
"He would be very original," Feingold said.

Feingold even went on to describe McCain as a "maverick by nature."

This isn't exactly on message with the Obama camp. In fact, the Obama campaign message is that McCain has an image as a maverick who "calls 'em as he sees 'em" but that in reality he isn't that at all. Obviously, someone somewhere has decided that Obama's most prominent surrogates are all supposed to go out and praise McCain en masse today in terms directly at odds with Dem efforts to define him."

[liberalrebuttal]

True.

HOWEVER.

After being flooded with complaints by the Progressives here in Wisconsin , Feingold switched his tune , announcing that he would stop giving interviews where he spoke favorably of Mc Cain and started actually campaigning for Barack Obama holding events and sending e-mails. I am still upset with him over this and no doubt , this may hurt him in Milwaukee among the Black Community there when he's up for re-election, but he did get our message and quickly changed his tune.

[GuyFawkes]

So which one is the real Russ Feingold? The McCain Loving guy, or the guy who backed down in the face of pressure?

[globality]

Considering what the Husband of the future Head of State Dept did with his pardons it seems a little strange to be complaining.

At least Bush isn't selling his

[GuyFawkes]

He's buying Scooter's silence.

[anotherplayaguy]

Go back to Bush, Sr. to see the beginnings of criminal pardons. Remember Caspar Weinberger of Iran-Contra fame? Sr. pardoned him BEFORE he went to trial.

Expect Jr. to do the same to cover his arse.

[GuyFawkes]

I stopped listening to Feingold when he started kissing McCain a$$ on MTP during the final 2 months of the election. He sounded like a younger version of Leiberman.

[Querent]

I stopped listening to you awhile ago. Get a clue.

[lwfky]

Unfortunately, short-sightedness will be W's legacy. This man is a bumbling coward, and he will do whatever is necessary to keep himself and his cronies out of prison. The only possible option was to impeach this man, and the Democrats were to spineless to use this option.

[ladydriver]

I agree with you 100%.

[larry278]

There are instances when private citizens engaged in extra legal actions when legislatures & law enforcment officers did not act to curb abuse of power or other harmful acts. I'm not advocating any illegal act. I beg your pardon if I've offended you.