Big Names Await News on Pardons

(NEWSER) - It took a while, but Alberto Gonzales has a job again. Nearly two years after resigning as George Bush's attorney general, Gonzales has been hired by Texas Tech to teach a course this fall, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Gonzales will be a visiting professor in the political science department and will lecture on the executive branch of government. He also will help recruit minority students. More»

Ex-VP pushed prez for reprieve 'til he left DC

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney is furious that President Bush wouldn’t listen when he repeatedly pushed for a last-minute pardon for Scooter Libby, the New York Daily News reports. The ex-VP “went to the mat and came back and back and back at Bush” for a full pardon, said one close to Cheney. "He was still trying the day before Obama was sworn in." More»

'He seems to go out of his way to deny the high rollers, the prominent people,' source says

(NEWSER) - George Bush formally denied pardons for several prominent politicians and businessmen on his last day in office, the Justice Department told the Los Angeles Times today. Among those whose pleas fell on deaf ears were Michael Milken, a businessman convicted of insider trading and stock evasion, and Randall Cunningham, a Congressman who pleaded guilty to taking bribes in 2006. More»

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney believes disgraced former chief of staff Scooter Libby, convicted in the CIA leak investigation, deserved a pardon, the Weekly Standard reports. “He was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice,” the former vice president said. “Obviously, I disagree with President Bush.” Bush’s decision has been ascribed to an honest belief in Libby’s guilt, but also to a desire for the pardon not to appear politically motivated. More»

Friends say former senator would rather clear name through courts anyway

(NEWSER) - Sen. Lisa Murkowski asked President Bush to pardon former Alaska Republican colleague Ted Stevens, the Anchorage Daily News reports. But Stevens would rather fight his corruption conviction in court, friends say, because he felt a pardon would taint his legacy. Murkowski wrote that she did not want to see Stevens, 85, spend the rest of his life involved in litigation. More»