Bush has Until 11:59pm Tonight to Issue Pardons, Will He Do It?

Facing an 11:59pm deadline for issuing pardons or commuting sentences, David Stout reported in The New York Times today at approximately 3:00pm that: "President Bush ... commuted the sentences of two former border patrol agents who had been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for shooting and seriously wounding a Mexican drug dealer in Texas in 2005." While the commutation of the two agents' sentences bear subsantial significance as a legal dispute that has drawn "fierce debate in the Southwest." In which Stout explains: "The two former agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, had attracted considerable support among advocates of tougher border security, who argued that the agents were just doing their jobs. Mr. Stout goes on to mention in passing what may turn out to be the more important aspect of Bush's decision regarding the former border agents when he adds: "With a day left in his presidency, Mr. Bush exercised his constitutional power to grant clemency — for the last time, according to a senior White House official."

After completing his reporting on the Ramos and Compean details: Stout turns his attention to the widely discussed public question of Mr. Bush's possible use of his clemency power before midnight; only several hours away. Mr. Stout explains that: "A commutation is not as generous as a presidential pardon, which essentially erases a crime from a defendant’s record. There had been speculation that President Bush would grant clemency to some high-profile defendants, but the White House official said the two ex-agents would be the last to benefit."

Mr. Stout provides details on Bush's special powers when he remarks that: "I. Lewis Libby Jr., former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, could have been granted a pardon for his role in the leaking of a C.I.A. agent’s name and an attempted cover-up. In July 2007, Mr. Libby’s prison sentence was commuted. Nor was there any clemency for former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who in late October was convicted of ethics violations for not reporting gifts and services given by friends. Mr. Stevens would lose his bid for a seventh term."

Until the clock strikes midnight; concerned ctizens, legal scholars and journalists around the world, among others, will closely watch Mr. Bush's actions because there has been a great deal of conjecture and speculation that Mr. Bush would issue a last minute, blanket pardon that would include himself and other high ranking members of his administration to provide protection from criminal proscecution resulting from alleged illegal acts carried out by Bush's administration over the past eight years. All that is known at this point is that regardless of the statement issued by the Bush official that "Mr. Bush exercised his constitutional power to grant clemency — for the last time, " There is a palpable tension among observers to see if Mr. Bush keeps his word and does not issue clemency before his presidency ends at 12:00am. The consequences of such a move by Mr. Bush would leave himself and others in his administration subject to the mounting pressure on the incoming Obama administration as well as the Congress to fully investigate the outgoing administration, bringing along with it; the possibility of criminal sentences. In a another, important considration to ponder; criminal prosecution for war crimes allegedly commited by Bush and his administration can also be brought by any of the 134 other signatory member countries to the Geneva Convention. That is why so much attention will be focused on Bush over the final hours of his presidency. There is a great deal at stake as the moments tick away.