makes it all the more concerning when you look at how many of trump s pardons carried the stink of political patronage and best in corrupt self-interest at worst. according to pew research center over the course of his four years in office trump only granted 237 acts of clemency. that s the third lowest number of pardons for any president in history. only the two president bush is pardoned fewer people. it would seem that trump was extremely selective about who he pardoned. still some of his pardons were widely praised. like alice johnson in 2020 who was serving life in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction. he posthumously pardoned the historical figure season being anthony, arrested for voting illegally. in 1870 to inject johnson the first black heavyweight boxing champ who is subject to a racist conviction in 1913 for transporting a white woman across state lines. but he also pardoned a robes gallery of political figures including many of his own associates. some of whom
still too cowardly to take a stand against insurrectionists ex president. the idea of political violence is being normalized. he held newspaper published a piece this weekend underlying its stark terms what this new post trump post january 6th world looks like. the number threat in vests launched by u.s. capitol police in 2021 was 100 and 50% higher than it was in 2017. trump s first year in office. lawmakers who are critical of trump remain among those most frequently targeted for violence. the long and diverse listening clues republicans who voted for an infrastructure bill he opposed. democrats who manage the former presidents impeachments. republicans who supported his ouster after the january 6th capitol attack. and most recently, the nine lawmakers on the select committee investigating the 2021 a riot. all of whom have around the clock security details. end quote. president biden addressed the normalization of violence this week in his soul of the nation s speech. y
remember my eerily prescient conversation with the handmaid s tale author margaret atwood. there is more where that came from. another hour of velshi begins right now. good morning, it s saturday, some of the third. happy labor day weekend to you all. i m ali velshi coming to you live from nbc news world headquarters in new york. we ve got a lot to get to this morning. the democratic congressman roger he s a member of the house intelligence committee. i ve got a lot of questions for him. as new details start to emerge about the classified documents that the fbi seized from donald trump s florida golf club. plus president biden laid out in clear and alarming terms the threat to our democracy posed by the so-called maga republicans who worship at the altar of an insurrectionist ex president who pedals lies and encourages political violence. for whom was the presidents message? it is truth telling him getting out the vote enough to turn
armed police officers. and also they take inventory of these documents. they have people standing, watching as you reviewed these documents to make sure they retrieve them upon completion of the review. they re often related to covid programs, human intelligence sources. the electronic monitoring of foreign communications and the like. this is what s called the most exquisite of intelligence that the intelligence community keeps. congressman, you could see. you think of me with us. especially on this labor day weekend. congressman robert come coming up this hour, classes in session for a very relevant fellow she history lesson. we re going all the way back to 1776. turns out a member than it which on adams four saw the threat of democracy that we are currently facing. i cannot some thinking about my conversation with the handmaid s tale author margaret atwood in the eerie timing of the whole thing. just one day before the