There weren’t that many of them.  Worriers be darned. 

Bush seems intent on clearing out of town without the cloud of controversy that descended on President Bill Clinton after he issued a series of last-minute pardons before leaving office in 2001. Clinton’s pardon of billionaire financier Marc Rich, who was considered a fugitive by the Justice Department, triggered a Congressional investigation and public scolding even from Democrats.

Some Democrats and civil liberties activists feared that Bush might issue a sweeping pardon blocking future prosecutions over alleged torture of war-on-terror detainees but those concerns appear to have been unwarranted.

There also were no last-minute pardons for political allies or former aides, such as I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr., who was convicted in 2007 of obstruction of justice in the CIA leak investigation. The lack of a pardon disappointed many of Libby’s backers.