“In the days just before Christmas, Trump issued 45 pardons, including one to Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, and to Trump’s own close associates Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, who had been convicted of crimes related to the 2016 campaign, leading to speculation that the pardons were a reward for their refusing to give evidence to investigators that could have implicated Trump.” Yahoo News, December 25th. There is an expectation of a flurry of at least 100 new pardons or commutations, which some believe could include the January 6th Capitol insurrectionists, although many argue that would almost certainly result securing the necessary 17 GOP Senate votes necessary to find Trump guilty of the impeachment offenses.
The New York Times, in reviewing documents and conducting interviews involving three dozen lobbyists and Trump-connected lawyers, put together the approach offered those with enough money to commute sentences or absolve convictions through the pardon process. Writing for the January 17th New York Times, Michael S. Schmidt and Kenneth P. Vogel write: “The brisk market for pardons reflects the access peddling that has defined Mr. Trump’s presidency as well as his unorthodox approach to exercising unchecked presidential clemency powers. Pardons and commutations are intended to show mercy to deserving recipients, but Mr. Trump has used many of them to reward personal or political allies.
“The pardon lobbying heated up as it became clear that Mr. Trump had no recourse for challenging his election defeat, lobbyists and lawyers say. One lobbyist, Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who has been advising the White House on pardons and commutations, has monetized his clemency work, collecting tens of thousands of dollars, and possibly more, in recent weeks to lobby the White House for clemency for the son of a former Arkansas senator; the founder of the notorious online drug marketplace Silk Road; and a Manhattan socialite who pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme.
“Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer John M. Dowd has marketed himself to convicted felons as someone who could secure pardons because of his close relationship with the president, accepting tens of thousands of dollars from a wealthy felon and advising him and other potential clients to leverage Mr. Trump’s grievances about the justice system.
“A onetime top adviser to the Trump campaign was paid $50,000 to help seek a pardon for John Kiriakou, a former C.I.A. officer convicted of illegally disclosing classified information, and agreed to a $50,000 bonus if the president granted it, according to a copy of an agreement… And Mr. Kiriakou was separately told that Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani could help him secure a pardon for $2 million. Mr. Kiriakou rejected the offer, but an associate, fearing that Mr. Giuliani was illegally selling pardons, alerted the F.B.I. Mr. Giuliani challenged this characterization.
“After Mr. Trump’s impeachment for inciting his supporters before the deadly riot at the Capitol, and with Republican leaders turning on him, the pardon power remains one of the last and most likely outlets for quick unilateral action by an increasingly isolated, erratic president. He has suggested to aides he wants to take the extraordinary and unprecedented step of pardoning himself, though it was not clear whether he had broached the topic since the rampage… He has also discussed issuing pre-emptive pardons to his children, his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and Mr. Giuliani.
“A White House spokesman declined to comment.” Is Trump using a back door to share the wealth as a reward to Trump loyalists? There’s no evidence to suggest that any of these payments are winding up in Mr. Trump’s personal pocket, but this obviously stinks. It only reinforces the notion of unequal justice where impoverished minorities don’t really stand a chance, and rich and well-connected felons can buy their way out of prison. Presidential pardons are normally based on recommendations from the DOJ’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, although that is not a legal requirement, generally accorded as compassion to those who have more than served a just penalty, or who may have been too-harshly treated by the criminal justice system.
You have to ask yourself, even in the traditional Thanksgiving turkey-pardoning ceremony pictured above, exactly who the real turkey was.
I’m Peter Dekom, and a President who threatens election officials to fabricate votes and incites insurrectionists, who tell Capitol police that they were invited by the President himself, would seem to be the last person in America to be able tout “law and order” with a straight face.
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