-Caveat Lector-
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2/26/2001 Press Office
202-646-5172
JUDICIAL WATCH AND BOB BARR JOIN TO BLOCK 44 PARDONS
Case Law Establishes That Pardons of Braswell, Roger Clinton,
Henry Cisneros, Susan McDougal and Others Are Void and Invalid
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, Inc., the public interest
watchdog that investigates and prosecutes government abuse and
corruption, has joined with Congressman Bob Barr to pursue
justice in the Pardongate scandal. With Judicial Watch's
assistance, on February 20, 2001, Congressman Barr wrote this
letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft:
The Honorable John Ashcroft
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
In Re: Review of Former President Clinton's January 20, 2001
Clemency Grants
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
Thank you very much for taking my call today, and agreeing to
look into this matter. As I indicated, on February 9, 2001, I
wrote to you about former President Clinton's attempt to grant
pardons for the 44 persons set forth in the attached letter dated
February 6, 2001 from the Department of Justice Office of
Legislative Affairs to the House of Representatives Government
Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton (Exhibit 1). As I pointed
out:
Contrary to long-established and consistent precedent, former
President Clinton did not issue separate clemency grants for each
individual. Instead he signed a single document entitled,
'Executive Grant of Clemency,' listing 138 persons by name, under
the following statement:
AFTER CONSIDERING THE REQUESTS for executive clemency of
the following named persons, I hereby grant full and
unconditional pardons to the following named persons for those
offenses against the United States described in each such
request:
As a result, and as further explained in my February 9, 2001
letter, these 44 persons "could not" - and did not - receive
pardons." While the Department has not responded to my letter of
February 9, 2001, on February 14, 2001 Chairman Dan Burton was
advised by Acting Assistant Attorney General Sheryl L. Walter
that the Department of Justice was proceeding to prepare and
issue warrants to effect the attempted pardons (Exhibit 2).
Incredibly, in her letter, Ms. Walter admits that the Department
of Justice is unable to determine the nature and scope of the
pardon for each individual based upon President Clinton's failure
to describe the acts subject to pardon. Instead, much like
Florida canvassing boards during the 2000 Presidential election,
the Department has set out to "divine" Mr. Clinton's intent. This
is patently - and constitutionally - improper.
Well-established case law demonstrates that presidential
pardons are - and can only be - effective to the crimes specified
in the President's pardon, here his "Executive Grant of
clemency." See, e.g., Ex Parte Weimer, 29 F.Cas. 597, 598
(C.C.E.D. Wisc. 1878) (No. 17,362); Stetler's Case, 22 F.Cas.
1314, 1315-16 (C.C.E.D. Pa. 1852) (13,380) (Exhibit 3). Further,
the law is clear that a pardon does not take effect until the
warrant is issued, delivered and accepted. U.S. v. Wilson, 32
U.S. 150 (1833); In re DePuy, 7 F.Cas. 506 (D.C.S.D.N.Y. 1869)
(3,814) (Exhibit 4). In this case, a warrant cannot be issued and
delivered without knowing what was the express basis of the
pardon. Finally, until the pardon is delivered, the President may
cancel it. This applies even to a pardon issued by a President's
predecessor in office. See, Id.
For all of these reasons, I urge you to reject the attempted
pardons by President Clinton for the 44 enumerated individuals,
particularly under the circumstances, where pardons were issued
for political purposes and possibly in exchange for campaign
contributions and other forms of remuneration (Exhibit 5). Also,
insofar as it would be impossible to "divine" President Clinton's
intent from the pardon document he issued, your staff would in
effect be unconstitutionally exercising the pardon power by
substituting the judgment of an inferior government official for
that of the only person constitutionally empowered to grant a
pardon - the President himself. If the President does not
properly exercise a power only he possesses, another official
cannot step in and correct his mistakes.
For the above reasons, and with all due respect, if you allow
these pardons to proceed and warrants to issue and be delivered,
a great injustice will have been done, and an unfortunate
precedent will have been set. If the Office of the Attorney
General does not act to prevent this, further steps may be
initiated to prevent this result.
Thank you for your interest, and an early response to my
inquiries, before the Department of Justice issues and serves the
warrants for the attempted pardons at issue.
With warm regards, I remain,
very truly yours, BOB BARR
Member of Congress
Judicial Watch trusts that Attorney General John Ashcroft will
not be prevented by President George W. Bush to pursue justice
and not process the 44 attempted pardons at issue, which include
but are not limited to the following persons: Tansukhlal "Tom"
Bhakta, Almon Glenn Braswell, John Bustamante, Henry Cisneros,
Roger Clinton, John F. Cross, Jr., Richard Douglas, Edward R.
Downe, Jr., Alvarez Ferrouillett, Lloyd Reid George, John J.
Hemmingson, Linda Jones, James H. Lake, James T. Maness, Susan
McDougal, Richard H. Pezzopane, Charles "Pug" D. Ravenel, Adolph
Schwimmer, Stephen A. Smith, John Fife Symington, III,
Christopher V. Wade, Jack L. Williams, Jimmie Lee Wilson, William
Stanley Yingling, Velinda Desalus, Kimberly D. Johnson, Arnold
Paul Prosperi, Dorothy Rivers, Thomas W. Waddell, III, Ricky Lee
Cunningham, Rubye Lee Gordon, John Robert Martin, Frank Ayala
Martinez, Sylvia Leticia Beltran Martinez, Miguelina Ogalde,
Orville Rex Phillips, Howard Winfield Riddle, Gerald Glen Rust,
Jerri Ann Rust, Gary Allen Thomas, Larry Weldon Todd, Patricia A.
Van De Weerd, Mitchell Couey Wood.
"The President must change his attitude and approach to justice,
since illegal bribes and other improprieties are something which
cannot be condoned by any administration," stated Judicial Watch
Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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