Bush Pulls Pardon of Robert Isaac Toussie

In an unprecedented move, outgoing President George W. Bush has rescinded the presidential pardon he granted to Robert Isaac Toussie. The pardon for Toussie was 1 of 19 criminal pardons announced by the White House on Tuesday, December 23, 2008. A day later came the startling news that President Bush had reconsidered Toussie's case and was rescinding the pardon.

During the White House press briefing on Wednesday, press secretary Dana Perino said that she didn't know of any other instance when a presidential pardon had been reversed. The President's decision was defended by Perino, calling it "the right decision" when information came to light that Robert Isaac Toussie's father, Robert, had donated $28,500 to the national Republican Party in April 2008. He contributed an additional $11,000 to other Republican candidates throughout the year, according to stories printed in the New York Daily News and Newsday. President Bush was reportedly unaware of the donations when he granted Toussie's pardon. Once that information came to light, however, The President quickly rescinded the pardon to quell any illusion of a quid pro quo deal.

The President's Power to Pardon

The President's broad power to grant (or rescind) reprieves and pardons is provided for in the U.S. Constitution:

"The President ... shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

Over time, the President's broad power to pardon has evolved to include:

· Full pardon - wiping away a criminal conviction, as if it never happened.

· Commutation - i.e. commuting a death sentence to a life sentence; turning a life sentence to one of 10 years.

· Conditional pardon - wiping away the conviction, but allowing the levy of fines to remain; ;or, require fines be paid before pardon takes effect.

· Pardon prior to conviction - or even prior to criminal charges being filed, as in the case of President Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon.

· Pardon of both individuals and groups - i.e. Carter's pardon of Vietnam war era draft dodgers.

· Pardon against will of grantee - Coolidge pardoned a man who refused the pardon. Coolidge ordered the man be removed from prison and the doors locked behind him.

George W. Bush, however, is the first president to grant and, then, rescind a pardon, as he did in the Robert Isaac Toussie case. Toussie was found guilty of falsifying documents and mail fraud in 2001 and 2002 respectively. He was sentenced to 5 months in prison, a $10,000 fine, and 3 years probation. His probation ended in 2006, but Toussie is now facing as many as 400 civil lawsuits filed on behalf of his victims. Had President Bush allowed the full pardon for Toussie to stand, it would have wiped his criminal conviction off the books as if it never happened. That would have prevented any evidence of Toussie's wrongdoing to be suppressed during trial on those pending civil cases. While it would not prevent those cases from going forward, they would be more difficult to win.

President Bush's unprecedented revocation of Toussie's pardon is being justified on the basis that important information and facts about the case were withheld. In particular, President Bush was unaware that the Toussie's case had not come to him after review or recommendation by the Justice Department. This case mirrored the highly controversial case of the fugitive, Marc Rich, who was granted a pardon by President Bill Clinton. In that case, too, there was speculation of a quid pro quo deal because of financial contributions to Clinton's foundation. Rich's pardon also circumvented Justice Department review and recommendation. Clearly, President Bush did not wish to follow in Clinton's footsteps with the Robert Isaac Toussie pardon.