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President Bush tries to take back one notable (and noted) pardon grant!?!?!

By Douglas Berman

Thanks to a helpful reporter, I just learned of this remarkable statement from the White House that follows in the wake of yesterday’s grant of a new batch of clemencies issued by President Bush.  Because I can hardly believe this is not a bad joke coming from the folks at The Onion, I will report the official statement in full text:

Statement by the Press Secretary

Yesterday the President forwarded to the Pardon Attorney a Master Warrant of Clemency including 19 requests for pardons with direction that he execute and deliver grants of clemency to the named individuals.

With respect to the case of Mr. Isaac R. Toussie, the Counsel to the President reviewed the application and believed, based on the information known to him at the time, that it was a meritorious application. He so advised the President, who accepted the recommendation.

Based on information that has subsequently come to light, the President has directed the Pardon Attorney not to execute and deliver a Grant of Clemency to Mr. Toussie. The Pardon Attorney has not provided a recommendation on Mr. Toussie’s case because it was filed less than five years from completion of his sentence.  The President believes that the Pardon Attorney should have an opportunity to review this case before a decision on clemency is made.

Who is poor Mr. Isaac R. Toussie, you might ask?  He happens to be the housing scammer that Ben Smith in this Politico post rightly called an odd candidate for a pardon during these rough economic times. 

The New York Times has this City Beat post providing more background on Mr. Toussie and what it calls President Bush’s “unusual move” to take back this pardon grant.  Though P.S. Ruckman of the terrific Pardon Power blog would know for sure, I think this effort to publicly reverse a publicly announced pardon is unprecedented, not just “unusual.” 

Unlike others, I am generally disinclined to assert that the Bush Administration can’t do anything right.  But President Bush’s discovery of this brand new way to mess up the use of the clemency power certainly justifies heaping an extra little bit of ridicule on this really, really lame duck.

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