UPDATE: Presidential Pardon Season

I would assume that any pardon that would create controversy wouldn't be made in November. Perhaps he will follow his father's lead and give Christmas Eve pardons.
.
KT, do you suppose anyone in the media can write a story about this process and NOT mention Marc Rich? I think everyone knows about it, but goodness it's reflexive with these writers.
Cap Weinberger would be a better example, I would think.

I second PNNTO's comment about Rich. Particularly with the Holder confirmation hearings coming up, it will be so overused. All I would say about it is that IIRC it was done on Clinton's last day in office. I suspect the really controversial Bush ones will be done on his last day, although Christmas eve might work for some.

Considering the Bald Eagle is seen as a somewhat patriotic symbol, I wonder if we will see outrage from the WingNuts over the pardon of the guy that killed some. Of course considering the work Bush is doing to totally strip the Endangered Species Act before he leaves office pardoning that guy should come as no surprise!

Since this is clearly the most incompetant adminsitration and Presidency in history, any chance that President Bush inadvertantly issues some kind of pardon that basically pardons every person who ever committed a crime in the US?

What is the relevance, to Bush's pardons not the Holder confirmation, of Marc Rich? Other than "outrage"?
Rich was accused of buying his pardon.
The speculation on Bush's pardons is coverage of illegal acts and that they might lead to Bush himself?
The fresh in the public's memory isn't very satisfying. Again, Weinberger and even Scooter's commutation seems to be a more accurate parallel.

Nice to know that these criminals have such a loyal friend in the White House... Not to let Clinton off the hook for his shenanigans.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

KT, while a lot of people are 'concerned' about Marc Rich and current adminsitration types who Bush 'may' pardon, I'm curious about the people who Bush pardoned yesterday (with the exception of Carly Simon's backup singer). Unless, Bush chose some names at random, there must be some significant circumstances behind his action, as news reports indicate his use of executive clemency is about as frequent as he has rational thoughts.
.
Are you or are any of you colleagues looking into this? I think there's an interesting story there.

The Marc Rich pardon will be moot in the Holder hearings because if it comes up its going to open up a big can of worms about executive privilege which Bush has hid behind and Scooter Libby's name will be back in the papers. I expect that after a LOT of media speculation about Marc Rich and how Holder might have helped to "illegally" get him a pardon even though it was thoroughly investigate, you wont hear much about it during the hearings and all the media speculation will do is to hurt Holder's credibility before he gets into office.
.
KT if you think its legit to talk about it, don't you think it should also be pointed out that there were congressional Hearings about the Marc Rich pardon which uncovered no wrong doing?
.
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/7/6/24738/59490

More on the Rich pardon from the national journal

KT
.
Explain please. Why was it wrong?

Haven't we Mark Rich-ed this thread to death already.

More about the Rich pardon from Scooter Libby

KT
.
Have you been reading the links I am providing? Scooter Libby said there was no criminal conduct done by Marc Rich and that the governement wouldn't sit down with him (he was one of Rich's lawyers initially) and negotiate in good faith and show all their cards. So yes I have information that suggests he was deserving of a pardon

The rightwing extremists ginned up the old faux outrage machine over Rich, so DC journos are conditioned to use that relatively minor presidential pardon to fill out their piece, once again relived that they don't have to revisit the truly outrageous pardons of George HW Bush of the Iran-Contra conspirators who were about to undergo discovery of Poppy's complicity in the scandal under Walsh. The pardon of Rich was otherwise completely unremarkable. Like President Reagan pardoning George Steinbrenner.
.
//
On December 24, 1992, twelve days before former Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger was to go to trial, Bush pardoned him.1 In issuing pardons to Weinberger and five other Iran/contra defendants, President Bush charged that Independent Counsel's prosecutions represented the ``criminalization of policy differences.''NOTE: Sound familiar?]

1 President Bush also pardoned former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane, former Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, former CIA Central American Task Force Chief Alan D. Fiers, Jr., former CIA Deputy Director for Operations Clair E. George, and former CIA Counter-Terrorism Chief Duane R. Clarridge. The Weinberger pardon marked the first time a President ever pardoned someone in whose trial he might have been called as a witness, because the President was knowledgeable of factual events underlying the case.

The criminal investigation of Bush was regrettably incomplete. Before Bush's election as President, the investigation was primarily concerned with the operational conspiracy and the careful evaluation of the cases against former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter and Lt. Col. Oliver L. North of the National Security Council staff, prior to their indictment in March 1988. This included a review of any exculpatory material that might have shown authorization for their conduct. In the course of this investigation, Vice President Bush was deposed on January 11, 1988.
. Source:Bush Pardons Weinberger, Five Others Tied to Iran-Contra
.
Cap Weinberger pushed his own grocery cart in Safeway, and was therefore pardon-worthy.

Needed here: Colgate-Love. Sweet, pasty Colgate-Love.

There was no faux outrage, and it is never mentioned, when Reagan pardoned George Steinbrenner, another well-connected sleazeball who didn't "deserve" a pardon. It is the different standards for Democrats vs. Republicans, once again.
The 10 Most Notorious Presidential Pardons - George Steinbrenner - TIME

KT
.
No he wasn't Scooter Libby was already in the Justice Department by the time the pardon came up. He had NO role in advocating a pardon for Marc Rich. He represented Marc Rich when there were still ongoing negotiations between Rich's lawyers and the New York AG's office. He had to recuse himself in point of fact when the pardon process was started because he was already working at the Defense Department. If anything he had every reason and legal right to distance himself from the pardon and to throw Rich under the bus but he didn't. Now Rich is a sleazeball granted, but pardons as I understand them aren't supposed to be about whether someone is a saint or not. Its supposed to be about whether or not as you said there were merits to granting the pardon. And there WERE merits to the pardon and it WAS investigated in Congress AND Clinton didn't hide behind executive privilege. I will let it go, but its a little disconcerting that you have the facts wrong about the case but you are still ready to say it was wrong for Clinton to pardon Rich.

That should have read Scooter Libby was already in the Defense Department in the first line