President Bush exercised an extremely rare move Wednesday, rescinding a pardon for Isaac R. Toussie of Brooklyn, who was imprisoned for false statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and mail fraud. Toussie’s pardon was issued just a day earlier along with 18 others.

The decision was explained in a statement from Press Secretary Dana Perino:

“With respect to the case of Mr. Isaac R. Toussie, 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. He so advised the President, who accepted the recommendation.

“Based on information that has subsequently come to light, the President has directed the Pardon Attorney not to execute and deliver a Grant of Clemency to Mr. Toussie. The Pardon Attorney has not provided a recommendation on Mr. Toussies case because it was filed less than five years from completion of his sentence. The President believes that the Pardon Attorney should have an opportunity to review this case before a decision on clemency is made.”

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.”

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

The new information came out in news reports, Perino said. 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, 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.

Perino said she is not aware of any other instance of a pardon reversal, in the Bush administration or others.

“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.

With the latest batch of pardons, which includes forgiveness for convictions ranging from gun and drug violations to bank and mail fraud, Bush has granted a total of 189 pardons and nine commutations. That’s fewer than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Ronald Reagan issued during their two terms.

(Source: WCBSTV)