Rep. Nadler Moves to Prevent Pre-Emptive White House Pardons

Press Release

Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, introduced a Resolution in the House of Representatives demanding that President Bush refrain from issuing pre-emptive pardons of senior officials in his Administration during the final 90 days of office. H.RES.1531 is in response to President Bush's widespread abuses of power and potentially criminal transgressions against our Constitution. The Resolution aims to prevent undeserved pardons of officials who may have been co-conspirators in the President's unconstitutional policies, such as torture, illegal surveillance and curtailing of due process for defendants.

"This Resolution declares that we will not tolerate a last minute attempt by President Bush to shelter his cronies - cronies who may well be guilty of serious criminal offenses - from the full force of the law," said Rep. Nadler. "President Bush must not excuse his own officials from possibly illegal acts committed outside the context of their official duties. Such pardons would merely obfuscate the truth and amount to a gross miscarriage of justice."

Beyond preventing pre-emptive pardons, the Resolution also recommends the establishment of a special commission or select committee to investigate the potentially illegal activities - including abuse of pardon power - of senior Bush Administration officials. It also calls for the next Attorney General to appoint an independent counsel to investigate and prosecute any crimes.

The full text of the Resolution follows.

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