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Trump’s Christmas Pardon Spree SHARE
Last week, Christmas came early for various disgraced GOP congressmen, presidential cronies who didn’t “rat,” and a latter‐day Lt. William Calley, thanks to a flurry of pardons issued by President Trump. As the 25th approached, I half‐expected “45” to wind up his clemency spree with a big present for himself. A Christmas Day self‐pardon would have been a fitting capstone to the ‘Me’ Presidency”: “?On the first day of Christmas/my true love (me) gave to me/a pre‐emptive pardon in a.…?” eh, you know how it goes.
For whatever reason, Trump decided not to cross that particular Rubicon just yet. Instead, pardons went to son‐in‐law Jared’s dad, Charles Kushner (a big believer in family loyalty himself), Mueller‐probe targets like Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, and what the New York Times summed up as a passel of “convicted liars, corrupt congressmen and child‐kill
Trump wields pardon power as political weapon, rewarding loyalists and undermining prosecutors Toluse Olorunnipa, Josh Dawsey
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Among the dozens of people who received pardons from President Trump this week were several who lied to investigators and obstructed a federal probe into the president s links to Russia.
Some had personal connections to Trump or his most loyal backers. A handful were Republican lawmakers rewarded for fealty to the president after betraying the public trust. Others abused their authority in more violent ways, killing or injuring unarmed civilians.
Taken together, the rogues’ gallery of criminals receiving clemency this week showcased Trump’s willingness to exert raw political power for his own personal gain, handing out favors to friends at a time when he is seeking GOP support for his flailing bid to reverse his election loss.
After criticism of pardons, Trump uses them on allies
Michael Kranish, The Washington Post
Dec. 23, 2020
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As Donald Trump campaigned for the presidency in 2016, his vow to drain the swamp included outrage at past use of presidential pardons. Citing the way President Bill Clinton had pardoned a fugitive financier during his last week in office, Trump fumed, People couldn t believe it.
Yet now, in the closing days of his term, Trump has added to his portfolio of pardons and commutations several people who seemed to exemplify the very swamp that Trump said he would drain, including former political allies as well as three former members of the House of Representatives.