Cantor to keep Toussie money

Rep. Eric I. Cantor's congressional campaign will keep $2,300 in contributions it received from Robert I. Toussie, whose son had a presidential pardon granted and rescinded this week.

Ray Allen, a senior strategist, speaking for Cantor's campaign, said the congressman had "nothing to do with" the granting or rescinding of a pardon for Isaac R. Toussie.

Isaac Toussie, 36, a Brooklyn developer, was convicted on charges of falsifying documents and mail fraud in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

He was sentenced to five months in prison, a $10,000 fine and three years probation, which ended in 2006.

In an extraordinarily rare move, the White House on Wednesday reversed a pardon granted Tuesday for Isaac Toussie. The White House said it acted to avoid any appearance of impropriety after learning that his father contributed more than $30,000 to the Republican Party and its candidates.

On Oct. 30 Robert Toussie, the convicted man's father, gave Cantor $2,300 -- the maximum general election contribution.

"There's no connection between us and the pardon," Allen said in an interview. "I don't know why we would involve ourselves in the plenary powers of the presidency."

White House press secretary Dana Perino said neither President Bush nor the White House counsel's office had been aware of Toussie's father's political contributions until reading news reports after the pardon.

"Given that, this was the prudent thing to do," Perino said. Political contributions generally are not factored into reviews of pardons, Perino said, as that would be "highly inappropriate."

The power to pardon is one of the few unchecked powers of the president and can be wielded without input from the legislative or judicial branches of government.

With the Toussie reversal, Bush has granted a total of 189 pardons. That's less than half as many as Presidents Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan issued during their eight years in office.

Cantor, R-7th, a Henrico County resident and the No. 2 Republican in the House, had "no comment at all on the president's handling of the situation," Allen said.

The decision to return campaign funds is always a political calculation, said Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign money.

"[Cantor] could afford to give this money away, but it could set a precedent he may not want to set," he said. "Giving the money away also suggests the money itself is tainted."

Cantor's campaign raised $4.5 million this election cycle, Allen said, and it would not be returning Toussie's money or giving it to charity.

Cantor was the only member of the U.S. House to receive a contribution from Robert Toussie, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Contact Neil H. Simon at (202) 662-7669 or .