CNN blows doors off Barbour's pardon of drunk driver

Wow.  Just...wow.  Those of you who have followed Haley Barbour's Pardongate closely will recall the story of Harry Bostick, a three-time DUI offender who was sitting in jail on a probation revocation when pardoned by Haley Barbour.  The nutshell version is that Bostick had obtained his third DUI in five years, making him a felon.  He was on parole for his third DUI conviction (the felony for which he was pardoned) when he was involved in an accident in which Charity Smith of Okolona, Mississippi, was killed.  Of course, Bostick was driving drunk during the accident.



Well, CNN has obtained emails that show Barbour's office was well aware of the accident, and that those who had vouched for Bostick rescinded their endorsements in the wake of it.  The CNN story begins:

For more than three months, Linda Smith has wondered how the man who police say was driving drunk and involved in a crash last year that killed her daughter could be pardoned for a previous felony drunken driving offense. 

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has said he didn't know that retired IRS investigator Harry Bostick had been arrested for a DUI months after the state's parole board recommended that Barbour grant him a full pardon. (Police have determined that while Bostick was driving under the influence, he was not at fault for the accident) 

But e-mails recently obtained by CNN show that Barbour's office was aware of Bostick's October DUI arrest months before Barbour pardoned him along with more than 200 other convicted felons during his last days in office in January. 

"They knew it, and they didn't stop it," said Smith, referring to the pardon. "Why didn't they do something?"

 I recommend reading the full story, which may be found here.  A tip of the hat to YallPolitics.com, who posted on the story first.

By the way, how did all of those bills to reform the pardon process and prevent stuff like this from happening again fare?  Oh, that's right, the Republican leadership in the House and Senate killed them all.