WE Blog

To his credit, President Bush has issued far fewer pardons thus far than many of his predecessors. But even so, the goof up this week in which Bush pardoned Isaac Robert Toussie (in photo) and then the next day revoked the pardon shows that this presidential power is better left unused — or at least used very rarely. Toussie is a Brooklyn real estate developer who was convicted of mail fraud and other crimes. His pardon, which circumvented the Justice Department’s vetting process, was revoked after the White House learned more about the extent and nature of Toussie’s prior criminal offiense and of political contributions made by Toussie’s father .