by Mike Hersh, PDA Impeachment team

In an editorial entitled, Mr. Bush and the Pardon Power, the New York Times raised serious concerns about Bush’s expected use of pardons to block investigations: “With the Bush administration drawing to a close, it is presidential pardon season. Presidents have become increasingly shameless about issuing pardons to insulate political cronies from prosecution, even to protect themselves. We hope President Bush will not abuse the pardon power by putting his appointees, political supporters or friends above the law.”

The Times noted that Bush’s father “George H. W. Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, former Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams and others involved in the Iran-contra scandal. Had they been prosecuted, Mr. Bush’s own actions might have come under scrutiny.” Recalling, “President Bush has issued one troubling commutation, of I. Lewis Libby’s 30-month prison sentence. Mr. Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, was convicted of lying and obstruction of justice in the Valerie Wilson leak investigation,” the Times warned Bush’s “record of stonewalling inquiries into his administration’s legally questionable behavior–the torture policy that led to the Abu Ghraib nightmare; illegal wiretapping; the politically motivated firing of federal attorneys–justify concern that he may be considering pardoning officials involved in those misdeeds.”

What can we as activists do? The Times asserted, “The main check on misuse of 11th-hour pardons is the verdict of history. Mr. Bush will be leaving office with extraordinarily low approval ratings. If he wants to try to reclaim his reputation, he can start by not abusing the pardon power on his way out the door.” You can read the whole editorial here.

Other than that, we can support efforts by Democrats.com and Rep. Jerrold Nadler on pardons. More than 35,000 people have signed the petition already. You can sign here: http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardon

If you can get to NYC Thursday, December 4, please attend an important event: After Torture: A Harper’s Magazine Forum on justice in the post-Bush era. More details here: https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/mtglistproc.asp?formid=meet&caleventid=14185

Our friends at the National Impeachment Network wrote a long article called Impeach if You Care About Obama, You Have Been Warned. It suggests other actions we can take to pressure Congress on impeachment. You can read it here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/29/14553/428/616/667563

Please support PDA’s ongoing work on our issue priorities including accountability and impeachment by making a one-time contribution or becoming a change makes change partner here: https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/donate.asp?formid=donate