Brian Bilbray: “I think it is quite clear to anyone who reads the Constitution that the White House, the President, does not have to go…”

“I think it is quite clear to anyone who reads the Constitution that the White House, the President, does not have to go through any procedure except to decide either to pardon or not to pardon. We hear a lot over the years of Executive privilege. Executive privilege. And every White House since George Washington has loved to discuss the concept of Executive privilege. But with that privilege goes Executive responsibility. And the White House bears the responsibility and the sole responsibility to issue pardons where there has been a miscarriage of justice. And I think the consensus is among many of us that this is exactly the kind of situation that the Founding Fathers had in mind when they proposed that the Executive and only the Executive would have this power, and this unencumbered power, separate from other procedures, to be able to right a wrong when the justice system has failed.”