In his last full day in office, Bush formally rejected a number of high-profile petitions for clemency, the Justice Department says. Bids by disgraced former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, “junk bond” king Michael Milken, American Taliban John Walker Lindh, and Native American activist Leonard Peltier were struck down, forcing all to wait two years to reapply for a pardon or one year for a commutation. Bush made no formal rulings on media baron Conrad Black, Cheney pal Scooter Libby, or Israel spy Jonathan Pollard, leaving their petitions alive. Bush seemed “to go out of his way to deny the high rollers, the prominent people,” an official familiar with the pardon denial list told the Los Angeles Times.
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