Bush's pardons

Don't think those two border patrol guards are on there.


WASHINGTON - Before leaving for the holidays, President Bush on Tuesday commuted one prison sentence and granted 19 pardons, including one to a man who helped the Jewish resistance in the 1940s.

With this latest batch, which includes forgiveness for convictions ranging from gun and drug violations to bank and mail fraud, Bush has granted a total of 191 pardons and nine commutations. That's fewer than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their two terms.

Included in the latest list is Charles Winters, who died in the 1980s in Florida. Winters helped ship arms and aircraft to Jews trying to found their own state in the Middle East. He was convicted of violating the Neutrality Act and served 18 months in prison. Two others, Herman Greenspun and Al Schwimmer, also were convicted but did not serve time. They were later granted presidential pardons.


The only other presidential pardon granted posthumously in recent times was given to Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Flipper was drummed out of the Army after white officers mistakenly accused him of embezzling about $3,800 from commissary funds.

In addition to Winters, others granted pardons were:

* William Alvis III, of Flushing, Ohio.
* John Allen Aregood of Riviera, Texas.
* Eric Charles Blanke of Parker, Colo.
* Steve Doyle Cavender of The Villages, Fla.
* Marie Elena Eppens of Lynden, Wash.
* Lydia Lee Ferguson of Sun City, Ariz.
* Eduviges Duvi Gonzalez-Matsumura of Clovis, Calif.
* George Clarence Greene Jr. of Gray, Ga.
* James Won Hee Kang of South Barrington, Ill.
* Alan Stephen Maiss of Reno, Nev.
* Richard Harold Miller of Tallahassee, Fla.
* Delano Abraham Nixon of Neosho Rapids, Kan.
* John H. Overholt of Black Hawk, S.D.
* Morris Keith Parker of Georgetown, S.C.
* Robert Truman Reece of Redondo Beach, Calif.
* Donald Edward Roessler of Harrison, Ohio.
* Issac Robert Toussie of Brooklyn, N.Y.
* David Lane Woolsey of St. George, Utah.

Bush also commuted the prison sentence of Reed Raymond Prior of Des Moines, Iowa.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28368672/

no they arent on there and for that i can only say [censored] YOU!!!!

A former gambling executive pardoned this week by President Bush contributed $1,500 to the president's 2004 re-election campaign, according to campaign-finance records.

Alan Maiss, former president of Bally Gaming, made two contributions totaling $1,500 to Bush's campaign in 2003 and 2004, a USA TODAY review of federal election records shows. Maiss mostly donated to Democrats and gave only to one other Republican besides Bush: then-Nevada senator Paul Laxalt in 1979, the records show.


In 1995, Maiss pleaded guilty to failing to report a fellow gaming executive's alleged ties to organized crime. He then tried to overturn his conviction, but his appeal was denied in 2002. Maiss was sentenced to one year of probation and fined $5,000.

Maiss, reached Thursday at home in Nevada, declined to comment. "I prefer not to," he said.

Bush spokesman Tony Fratto declined to discuss the Maiss case, saying the White House ordinarily does not comment on individual pardon decisions.

"We do not look into political contributions" in reviewing pardon requests, he said Thursday. "We think it would be inappropriate to do that. They should have no influence over our decision-making."

In a rare move, Bush on Wednesday reversed his decision to pardon Brooklyn developer Isaac Toussie after the New York Daily News reported Toussie's father had given $28,500 to the Republican Party in April. Toussie and Maiss were among 19 people pardoned by Bush on Tuesday.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Wednesday that the unprecedented reversal was "based on information that has subsequently come to light." Toussie pleaded guilty in 2003 of making false statements to the Housing and Urban Development Department and of mail fraud. The Daily News reported Wednesday morning that Toussie was accused in a civil suit "of scamming hundreds of poor, minority homebuyers."

Perino had said neither the White House counsel's office nor the president had been aware of a political contribution by Toussie's father that "might create an appearance of impropriety."

USA TODAY also found a $250 contribution to Bush from Mary Aregood, who, according to public records, shares a Texas address with John Allen Aregood, who also was pardoned Tuesday.

Aregood was convicted of a felony 16 years ago for hiring undocumented workers to harvest watermelons.

Mary Aregood could not be reached for comment.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...n_N.htm?csp=34

Said they don't look at political contributions so it's no big deal

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Milk3</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Said they don't look at political contributions so it's no big deal </div></div>
Yeah, it is a big deal. The prez on his way out the door frees people who have been convicted and sentenced by the courts. All of them do this, and the power should be revoked. The biggest problem I see here is the 2 border guards, in question. If you will check all the presidents bail out some funny names.