THE POWER OF pardon by a president or governor is absolute and unaccountable, and therefore full of ethical risk.
More disgraceful information keeps coming out about the last-minute pardons and clemencies granted by President Clinton that illustrates the dangers. It makes the people want to know more. They have a right to know.
While President Clinton had the unquestioned right to pardon Marc Rich and A. Glenn Braswell and commute the sentence of Carlos Vignali, no one had a right to buy or sell those actions.
The Justice Department has the duty to investigate to see if anyone did.
Republican committee chairmen in the House and Senate, even with blatantly political motives, should responsibly investigate these actions. They can legitimately inquire whether new law is needed.
And if the grandstanding backfires and shows that enough pressure was directed at President Clinton by well-meaning people in behalf of Marc Rich and Carlos Vignali, so that the pardon and clemency may easily be explained without wrongdoing, so be it.
But if the glare of publicity embarrasses President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because of the role of her brother, Hugh Rodham the Florida lawyer, or of her campaign treasurer William Cunningham III or of Jack Quinn, the former White House counsel, that's OK, too.
The presidential power of pardon is in the Constitution for sound reasons of justice, humanitarianism and national interest. The temptation to abuse it and pressures to do so are undoubtedly very great.
The best way to protect the proper use of the power is never to abuse it. The best antidote to abuse is thorough, deep and fair public examination, letting chips fall where they may. Public knowledge is also a deterrent to similar actions by others in the future.
