Today President Bush pardoned Issac Toussie, who pled guilty to defrauding the US government in what to me was the classic housing boom scheme:
- Major developer builds substandard houses
- Developer pays off appraiser to inflate house's
- Developer brings in low-income buyers, falsifies their mortgage app, and gets them federally-back HUD loans

Of course we know how that ends up: buyer doesn't actually have the means to make their monthly payment, and the house is actually worth much less than they paid, so buyer defaults. Buyer's credit is ruined, govt is stuck making good on the bad loan, and developer walks with a lot of cash.

I'm unclear as to why the guy even needed a pardon. In 2003, he was sentenced to 5 months in jail, 3 years of probation, and a $10,000 fine. He skated on paying restitution -- the prosecutors dropped their demand for millions of dollars because the documents were lost in the World Trade Center attacks. I assume he's done his time.

I'd like to hear the reasoning on this pardon. Does anyone know if there's such thing as an "application for a pardon"? I assume he/his family/his lawyer had to make his case to the President somehow. I'd like to read it.

And his dad (Robert Toussie) only gave $28,500 to the RNC this year (plus $6,900 to various candidates). Really doesn't seem like that much if they were buying the pardon.

Other sources of interest (from earlier this decade when he was getting prosecuted/sentenced):
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht...A9679C8B63
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/ny-c...3814.story

Bush has a reputation of not giving many pardons even where it would make sense. The homebuilders in Texas got too good of deal in Texas with having go before a builder controller commission before a homeowner gets to go to court on a defective house.
The Department of Justice might have something they ask people to submit for a pardon. My question is whether DOJ recommended this particular pardon, or told Bush it was a outside their usual guidelines.

Ha! Today, the President actually reversed the pardon. When was the last time that happened?

Someone from the White House must read this board. Y'know, I've long had a sneaking suspicion that THRILL actually IS President Bush. I mean, who other than W himself would brag that "the President ... used to do a spot on Dr Evil impersonation"?

(12-25-2008 12:06 AM)JOwl Wrote:  Ha! Today, the President actually reversed the pardon. When was the last time that happened?

Someone from the White House must read this board. Y'know, I've long had a sneaking suspicion that THRILL actually IS President Bush. I mean, who other than W himself would brag that "the President ... used to do a spot on Dr Evil impersonation"?

Hmmmm. Has anyone ever seen the two in the same place?