Bush withdraws 1 of 19 pardons issued Tuesday – USA Today (12/24/08):

President George W. Bush took the very rare step Wednesday of revoking a pardon he had granted only a day before.

Bush pardoned 19 people on Tuesday, including Issac Robert Toussie of Brooklyn, N.Y., who had been convicted of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and of mail fraud. On Wednesday, the White House issued an extraordinary statement saying the president was reversing his decision in Toussie’s case.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the new decision was “based on information that has subsequently come to light,” including on the extent nature of Toussie’s prior criminal offenses. She also said that 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.”

Considering that the past 8 years could accurately be subtitled “appearance of impropriety,” I guess we should be encouraged by this development. That said, I don’t think anyone is properly prepared for the scale and scope of pardons that Bush is going to issue in his last few weeks in office. All else being equal, Bush would certainly push the envelope. But of course all else isn’t equal, and the lawbreaking and coverups in which his administration engaged is epic. I’m not sure of the mechanics, but I expect everyone who held certain job titles if not entire departments to receive blanket prophylactic pardons, nullus. Not that Obama, Reid, and Pelosi would dare investigate, but Bush hasn’t yet met a power he didn’t abuse.

(And of course, the issue of pardoning the son of a prominent campaign contributor came up in The West Wing, episode 103 “The Benign Prerogative.” President Bartlett didn’t have to change his mind the next day.)