WASHINGTON — Historically stingy with granting pardons, President Bush is facing a flood of requests for granting get- out-of-jail cards or wiping criminals’ records clean on his way out of the White House.
Junk-bond king Michael Milken, media mogul Conrad Black and American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh are among the more than 2,000 people who have applied to the Justice Department seeking official forgiveness in the form of pardons or sentence commutations.
But with Bush’s term ending Jan. 20, some lawyers are lobbying the White House directly to pardon their clients. That raises the possibility that the president could excuse scores of people, including some who have not been charged, to protect them from future accusations, such as former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or star baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.
Those who have worked with Bush predict that will not happen. The White House has declined to comment on upcoming pardons.
“I would expect the president’s conservative approach to executive pardons to continue through the remainder of his term,” said Helgi C. Walker, a former Bush White House associate counsel. “There would also be a concern about avoiding any appearance of impropriety in the waning days of his administration — i.e., some sort of pardon free-for-all.”
Last week, Bush issued 14 pardons and commuted two sentences — all for small-time crimes such as minor drug offenses, tax evasion and unauthorized use of food stamps.
Bush’s latest round brought his eight- year total to 171 pardons and eight commutations granted.
That is less than half as many as President Clinton or President Reagan issued. Both were two-term presidents, like Bush.
One Washington lawyer whose clients are directly pursuing the White House for pardons said Bush is expected to issue two more rounds of pardons: one right before Christmas, as is customary, and one right before he leaves office. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid hurting the clients’ chances.
The department is considering a pardon application for Milken, who was convicted of securities-fraud charges. Two politicians convicted of public corruption — former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., and four-term Democratic Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards — have applied for shorter prison terms. So has Lindh, convicted of assisting the Taliban, and Black, who is serving time for fraud and obstruction of justice.
