Tag: presidential pardon

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Trump Considering ‘Preemptive’ Pardons For As Many As 20 Allies

The list of possible “preemptive” pardons from Donald Trump is apparently even longer than originally thought. From Politico:

President Donald Trump is considering preemptively pardoning as many as 20 aides and associates before leaving office, frustrating Republicans who believe offering legal reprieves to his friends and family members could backfire.

Trump’s strategy, like much of his presidency, is nontraditional. He is eschewing the typical protocol of processing cases through the Justice Department. And he may argue that such preemptive pardons for his friends and family members are necessary to spare them from paying millions in legal fees to fight what he describes as witch hunts.

Those up for clemency include everyone from Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to several members of his family — all people who haven’t been charged with a crime.

The Donald is reportedly concerned that pardoning these folks ‘would look like an admission of guilt.’ Which, by the way, is what it would be.

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Shocker: Trump Pardons Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn

Michael Flynn (photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
As I’ve predicted practically since time began, Donald Trump has pardoned former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn. Flynn pleaded guilty (twice!) to charges of lying to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian diplomat. From the New York Times:

It came to light that Mr. Flynn was lying to his colleagues about conversations he had in December 2016 with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak.

In the calls, Mr. Flynn urged Moscow not to escalate in response to sanctions imposed by the departing Obama administration over Russia’s covert election interference to help Mr. Trump, and raised the possibility that the incoming Trump administration would work more closely with Russia.

The pattern of lying raised new suspicions about Mr. Flynn. The F.B.I. sent agents to interview him at the White House even though deliberations with the Justice Department about whether to first tell Mr. Trump’s new White House counsel were not yet resolved.

Notes from a meeting related to that interview suggest a purpose of the interview may have been to see whether Mr. Flynn would lie again to the F.B.I. agents — as he did.

Despite Flynn pleading guilty to the eventual charges, Trump – who fired Flynn in 2017 for lying to Vice President Mike Pence and the FBI about his conversation with Russia’s ambassador – continually said Flynn was “treated terribly” by the Intelligence community. As many have noted, a presidential pardon requires admitting guilt. In doing so, Flynn would lose any 5th Amendment protections regarding being called to testify on the issues. In related news, NBC News reports that prosecutors in New York City are seeking to have the state’s highest court revive mortgage fraud charges against Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. “A four-judge panel in the intermediate court ruled Oct. 22 that the DA’s office failed to demonstrate that the state charges warranted an exception to state double jeopardy protections. That echoed trial court judge Maxwell Wiley’s finding last December that the state charges against Manafort mirrored the federal case that landed him behind bars.” Expect Manafort to receive a pardon in regard to his federal case as well. A new case brought by the Manhattan DA would be exempt from Trump’s pardon powers as state charges can’t be resolved by a presidential pardon.

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Trump Considers Pardon For Edward Snowden, Previously Called For His Execution

L-R Edward Snowden, Donald Trump (images: publio domain)
Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would consider issuing a presidential pardon to whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has remained in exile in Russia since disclosing highly classified information from the National Security Agency. After leaking the info to the Guardian in 2013, Snowden left the U.S. traveling to Hong Kong and then to Moscow in order to avoid being arrested. To some, Snowden is seen as a civil liberties hero, but to others, he is seen as a traitor for revealing secret intelligence documents. Back in 2014, Trump called Snowden a ‘spy’ tweeting, “A spy in the old days, when our country was respected and strong, would be executed.”

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Rudy Giuliani Predicts Presidential Pardons For Convicted Trump Allies

Rudy Giuliani on Friday claimed the Russia investigation could get “cleaned up” with pardons from President Trump in light Paul Manafort being sent to jail.
Rudy Giuliani

And there it is…

From The New York Daily News:

In one of his most forceful attacks on the special counsel yet, Rudy Giuliani on Friday claimed the Russia investigation could get “cleaned up” with pardons from President Trump in light Paul Manafort being sent to jail.

“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” the former New York mayor told the Daily News.

Giuliani’s stunning remark came hours after a Washington, D.C., judge revoked Manafort’s bail and ordered him to remain behind bars while awaiting his September trial on charges relating to his shady pro-Russian business dealings in Ukraine. The ruling came after Robert Mueller’s investigators alleged Manafort had attempted to tamper with witnesses in the Russia investigation.

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Expect More Pardons From Donald Trump

Donald Trump likes pardoning people

Donald Trump came into the White House expecting to run his administration the way he’d run the Trump Organization.

The Trumpster expected to be able to make decisions and snap his fingers and his bidding would be done.

But the reality of working in government was a learning curve for the Donald.

From judges holding up his executive orders to Congress’ glacial pace on legislation, this president needed instant gratification.

And he’s found it in this one presidential power that no one can dispute.

From CNN:

The White House has assembled the paperwork to pardon dozens of people, two sources with knowledge of the developments tell CNN, signaling that President Donald Trump is poised to exert his constitutional power and intervene, in some instances, where he believes the Justice Department has overstepped.

The administration has prepared the pardoning paperwork for at least 30 people, the sources tell CNN. One of those is Alice Johnson, the 63-year-old Tennessee woman who was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 on charges related to cocaine possession and money laundering.

Kim Kardashian West met with Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Oval Office last week in an attempt to convince him to pardon her. Trump has not yet decided whether he will move forward with either a pardon or commutation for Johnson.

The White House announced today that Trump has commuted Johnson’s sentence.

I do think a life sentence for Johnson, who apparently was only involved in communications regarding the drug charge, is way steep.

But some folks are wary that Trump is setting an odd and unsettling precedent.