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Coal for Christmas: Brooklyn man's pardon revoked

By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven, Ap
White House Correspondent � Thu Dec 25, 3:31 am ET

WASHINGTON � The pardons President George W. Bush granted this week
couldn't have been better Christmas gifts if Santa himself had
delivered them.

But a Brooklyn, N.Y., man, Isaac Robert Toussie, received the legal
equivalent of a lump of coal.

Toussie, convicted of making false statements to the Housing and Urban
Development Department and of mail fraud, was among 19 people pardoned
Tuesday.

But after learning in news reports that Toussie's father had donated
tens of thousands of dollars to the Republican Party a few months ago,
as well as other information, the White House issued an extraordinary
statement Wednesday saying the president was reversing his decision on
Toussie's case.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the decision to revoke
the pardon � a step unheard of in recent memory � was "based on
information that has subsequently come to light," including the extent
and nature of Toussie's prior criminal offenses. She also 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."

"Given that, this was the prudent thing to do," she said.

The new information came to the White House's attention from news
reports, Perino said.

A story in the New York Daily News said Toussie's father, Robert,
donated $28,500 to the national Republican Party in April � just
months before Toussie's pardon petition.

The counsel's office generally doesn't include vetting of political
contributions in its reviews on such matters, as that would be "highly
inappropriate on many levels," she said. The White House decision on
Toussie had come without a recommendation from the pardon attorney,
Ronald L. Rodgers, as Toussie's request for a pardon came less than
five years after completion of his sentence, so that eliminated
another step in the review process.

The Daily News story on Wednesday, and others in Newsday and on blogs,
shed light on Toussie's record. He pleaded guilty for lying to HUD and
mail fraud, admitting that he falsified finances of prospective
homebuyers seeking HUD mortgages. He was sentenced to five months in
prison and five months' house arrest, a $10,000 fine and no
restitution, the Daily News reported.

In another case, Toussie pleaded guilty to having a friend send his
local county a letter that falsely inflated property values.

The Daily News located a lawyer representing hundreds of ex-customers
who have sued Toussie in federal court, accusing him of luring poor,
minority homebuyers into buying overpriced homes with mortgages that
had hidden costs.

The attorney, Peter E. Seidman, said Wednesday that news of the pardon
was "gut-wrenching for his clients" and left him "baffled."

"I am glad somebody at the White House woke up," he said in an
interview.

Maxine D. Wilson, 42, bought one of Toussie's homes on Long Island in
1996. She later sued Toussie, claiming the house started to fall apart
after she moved in in 1997. She said she was shocked when she learned
Bush was going to pardon Toussie.

"I was angry at how money, power and influence seemed to trump
justice," she said. But on Wednesday, she said she felt "somebody paid
attention. Somebody stepped back and made us feel equal."

The Justice Department advises the president on who qualifies for
pardons. Only people who have waited five years after their conviction
or release from prison can apply for a pardon under the department's
guidelines. Criminals are required to begin serving time, or otherwise
exhaust any appeals, before they can be considered for sentence
commutation.

But the president can forgive people outside that process if he
chooses. Under the Constitution, the president's power to issue
pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled � meaning he can forgive
anyone he wants, at any time.

Perino said she did not know of another instance of a pardon reversal
in "recent memory," but that the White House couldn't say for sure it
never had happened before.

"The counsel to the president reviewed the application and believed,
based on the information known to him at the time, that it was a
meritorious application," she said. Bush now believes the case should
rest with the pardon attorney.

Bradford Berenson, an associate White House counsel during Bush's
first term and Isaac Toussie's lawyer, said in a statement that his
client remained confident the pardon attorney would grant his request.

"Isaac Toussie is deeply grateful that both the counsel to the
president and the president himself found Mr. Toussie's pardon
application to have sufficient merit to be granted," Berenson said.
"Mr. Toussie looks forward to the pardon attorney's expeditious review
of the application."

Berenson declined to elaborate further on the case and its
developments.

Federal Election Commission records show a number of donations to
Republicans this year by Robert Toussie and by a Laura Toussie who
lists the same address. Between them, they gave $4,600 to Minnesota
GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and another $4,600 to Oregon Republican Sen.
Gordon Smith, all on Oct. 15. Coleman is locked in a still-undecided
race against Democrat Al Franken, and Smith lost in November to
Democrat Jeff Merkley.

On Oct. 30, Robert Toussie also gave $2,300 to GOP Rep. Eric Cantor of
Virginia.

His contribution to the Republican National Committee came as part of
a fundraiser in March for GOP presidential candidate John McCain. Out
of a total donation of $30,800 by Toussie, $2,300 went to McCain's
campaign and $28,500 went to the RNC.

Doug Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University and a close
follower of presidential clemency decisions, said the White House
decision strikes him as unprecedented, but he said it's not
inconceivable that it had happened in the past.

"It's, at best, embarrassing. At worst, it's an extraordinary example
of this White House's ability to bollix up one bit of presidential
authority that he clearly has," Berman said.

With the Toussie reversal, Bush has granted a total of 189 pardons and
nine commutations. That's fewer than half as many as Presidents Bill
Clinton or Ronald Reagan issued during their two-term tenures. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081225/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_pardon_mistake;_ylt=Aod33LoFyqxPafQjSD.6Gles0NUE