Michael Balsamo
FILE - In this Monday, July 1, 2019, file photo, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter leaves federal court after a motions hearing in San Diego. On Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020, President Donald Trump pardoned 15 people, including Hunter, who was sentenced to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds and spending the money on everything from outings with friends to his daughterâs birthday party. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File) December 22, 2020 - 10:15 PM
WASHINGTON - In the waning weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump has issued a slew of pardons and commutations, including former members of Congress convicted of corruption charges, two people charged in the Russia investigation that shadowed his presidency and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more a dozen Iraqi civilians dead.
December 22, 2020 7:44 p.m.
President Trump went on pardon tear Tuesday night as his presidency wanes, with the White House announcing grants of clemency for key figures in the 2016 Russia investigation and for congressional allies of Trump who were prosecuted during his administration.
Trump granted a full pardon to his former 2016 campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who kickstarted the Russian investigation when he told a foreign diplomat about Russia’s efforts to dig up dirt on Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation for making false statements to the FBI. The former Skadden Arps lawyer Alexander van der Zwaan, who likewise pleaded guilty in Mueller’s probe, was granted a full pardon for lying to officials investigating his involvement in a 2012 a report that white-washed the prosecution of a Ukrainian official.
Alice Johnson, Pardoned by Trump, Secures Flurry of Trump Pardons and Commutations
On 12/22/20 at 9:31 PM EST
Alice Johnson, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump in August, was instrumental in gaining similar clemency for 4 individuals announced by the White House on Tuesday.
Johnson was sentenced to life in prison in 1997 after being convicted on charges of attempted possession of cocaine and conspiracy to possess cocaine, both non-violent offenses. Trump commuted Johnson s sentence in 2018 after Kim Kardashian West interceded before Trump on Johnson s behalf. Johnson became an advocate for criminal justice reform and spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Some say you do the crime, you do the time, Johnson said during her RNC speech in August. However, that time should be fair and just. We ve all made mistakes. None of us want to be defined forever based on our worst decision.
Trump grants full pardon to Russia probe figure wenatcheeworld.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wenatcheeworld.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Trump grants clemency to 20 people, including three former GOP members of Congress and two men convicted in the Russia probe Rosalind Helderman, Matt Zapotosky, Josh Dawsey
Trump grants clemency to 20 people
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Replay Video UP NEXT President Trump granted clemency on Tuesday to 20 people, including three former Republican members of Congress and two people who were convicted of crimes as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He also pardoned four military contractors convicted of killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007, and extended clemency to several people convicted of drug offenses, including some who had already benefited from initial commutations.