President George W. Bush is still intent on rewarding his corporate cronies from the White House as he is on the way out the door. And he is using his power of presidential pardons to let some shaky characters off the hook, including a man who killed three bald eagles, and Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Maybe Mohon was Bush’s drug dealer when he was here in 1972 partying?

AP: Bush Pardon’s Bald Eagle Killer?
AP: Bush Pardons 14, Commutes Two Sentences

But Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced H.Res. 1531 on Friday urging President Bush not to pardon senior administration officials for crimes the president authorized.

Nadler’s resolution urges Congress to investigate those crimes and any pardons relating to them, and urges the Attorney General (current or future) to appoint an independent counsel to prosecute those crimes.

President George W. Bush may have committed crimes involving the mistreatment of detainees, the extraordinary rendition of individuals to countries known to engage in torture, illegal surveillance of United States citizens, unlawful leaks of classified information, obstruction of justice, political interference with the conduct of the Justice Department, and other illegal acts and that Bush has been urged to grant preemptive pardons to senior administration officials who might face criminal prosecution for actions taken in the course of their official duties.

These are major steps towards holding George Bush, Dick Cheney, and other senior officials accountable for their crimes and thereby upholding the rule of law, rather than allowing presidents to become dictators, according to Bob Fertik at Democrats.com.

“Rep. Nadler’s leadership is crucial because he chairs the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties and can use his credibility and clout to move the resolution forward either during the lame duck session in December or when the next Congress convenes on January 6,” he said in a press release.

So the next step is to persuade as many Representatives as possible to co-sponsor H.Res. 1531.

Will members of Congress from Alabama join this effort, including Rep. Artur Davis of Birmingham, who is traveling all over the state running for governor in 2010? Stay tuned…

Sign the petition here

Also, call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and speak with the legislative assistant who handles judiciary matters.

If your Representative says he or she will co-sponsor, please let us know by commenting on this whipping page.

Tags: Bush Pardons

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 12:06 pm and is filed under President Bush. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.