Former President Joe Biden briefly considered pardoning former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman of his conviction on a federal bribery charge during Biden’s last days in office, but changed his mind the following day.

That’s according to The New York Times, which reviewed several of Biden’s clemency actions at the end of his term as part an investigation into how those actions were made.

Biden, in an interview with the Times, said it was not an “easy” decision.

“In this case, I viewed the facts, reflected on it a bit more, and deliberated more on it with my team and decided not to grant the pardon. And I didn’t make this decision quickly. I made it thoroughly and after significant discussion.”

Attempts to reach Siegelman for comment Monday were not immediately successful.

The Times’ investigation reviewed records and related emails as the Trump White House, the Justice Department and Congress are investigating those decisions related to Biden’s mental acuity and the use of the autopen device to sign the official documents.

Biden reduced the sentences of nearly 4,000 federal convicts and pre-emptively pardoned some high-profile names, saying he wanted to spare them possible investigation or prosecution by the Trump White House.

Siegelman was elected governor in 1998 and narrowly lost to Republican Bob Riley in his bid for re-election in 2002.

In 2006, a federal jury convicted Siegelman of bribery for appointing HealthSouth Founder Richard Scrushy to a state hospital regulatory board in exchange for $500,000 in donations to a campaign to establish an education lottery.

Siegelman had personally guaranteed the lottery campaign’s debt, but he contended that he could not have personally benefited from the campaign contributions. He also said he signed on an additional guarantor for the debt after the bribe was supposed to have occurred.

Siegelman, who was out on appeal for some time after his conviction, was released from prison in 2017.

Former President Barack Obama also denied Siegelman’s request for a pardon at the end of Obama’s term in 2017.

According to The Times, Biden held two meetings on Jan. 18 and 19, to discuss several high-profile clemency decisions.

A summary of the Jan. 18 meeting shows that Biden had decided to grant a pardon to Siegelman.

But the summary of the second meeting the following day stated the president had decided to rescind his approval of the pardon.

Biden told the Times that he considered the fact that Siegelman is no longer in prison, and rescinded his decision after deliberating.

“Look, Siegelman was out of jail,” Biden said. “He had served his time. And there was no — so he wasn’t in jeopardy. And what I concluded was, there’s — and these aren’t easy decisions, but there are a lot of people who are considered for pardons. And I was proud I ran the process I ran.”