Bush Rejected Pardons for Milken, Other 'High Rollers'

George Bush formally denied pardons for several prominent politicians and businessmen on his last day in office, the Justice Department told the Los Angeles Times today. Among those whose pleas fell on deaf ears were Michael Milken, a businessman convicted of insider trading and stock evasion, and Randall Cunningham, a Congressman who pleaded guilty to taking bribes in 2006.

Bush also denied requests on behalf of John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, and Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist jailed for killing FBI agents in 1975. Unlike President Clinton’s high-profile pardons, a source said, Bush “seems to go out of his way to deny the high rollers, the prominent people.” (More George W. Bush stories.)