| | John Dean: Bush could have issued 'secret pardons'
 As former President George Bush flew back to Texas on Tuesday and it became clear that there had been no burst of last-minute pardons, observers were left to wonder about Bush's motivations in not following the example of other recent presidents.
"Could he have pardoned more people than we know?" MSNBC's Keith Olbermann asked former Watergate conspirator John Dean on Thursday. "Do pardons have to be announced by the president?"
"They don't have to be announced," Dean replied. "He might have, indeed -- if he felt there was some national security reason -- have issued secret pardons. He could have done it and it would only become known if the person who got the pardon somehow needed to say -- in a prosecution for torture, maybe -- would have to say 'I've been pardoned by the president.'"
Dean, however, did not suggest there was any evidence Bush had actually done this, noting instead, "He's a man that ... takes good care of Bush and his family and his very close friends, but he's actually a pretty cold fellow, and I don't think his 'compassionate conservatism' actually reached to the charity of pardons."
One former member of the administration who notably did not receive a pardon in Bush's final days was I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has already complained publicly about the lack of full exoneration for his former chief of staff, who was convicted of obstructing justice in the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame.
"So, why didn't Bush pardon Libby?" Olbermann asked.
"I suspect he's decided that he'll leave his former vice president to take care of the future care and feeding of Mr. Libby," Dean replied. "By the end of the administration, Cheney had lost his clout with this president. ... Bush may have just said, 'I've had enough of the backfiring Cheney schemes' and decided to take no action."
This video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast Jan. 22, 2009.
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