Rick Renzi The pardons – including one for Scott Connor Crosby, a one-time bank robber who supporters say has turned his life around – were among 73 pardons and 70 sentence commutations Trump issued Wednesday morning. Renzi’s pardon was called for by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, and a slew of former House members who cited Renzi’s family and his service to constituents while in office in urging clemency. Gosar did not respond to a request for comment on Renzi’s pardon Wednesday. But others criticized the flurry of pardons, which included former Trump associates, as “offensive, but not surprising.” Less controversial was the pardon for Crosby, which was called for by his church leader, the mayor and vice mayor of Mesa and former Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz. Vice Mayor Mark Freeman said in an emailed statement that he was “absolutely thrilled at the news that Mr. Crosby received a fu
The Los Angeles Times on former President Donald Trump’s last-minute pardons:
In one of his last acts as president Donald J. Trump again exercised his constitutional authority to “grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States” in an irresponsible and offensive way fortunately for the last time.
The way he has used the pardon power to benefit cronies, political allies and the father of his son-in-law underlines just how expansive that power is and why Trump’s successor must be pressed, including by Congress, to exercise it impartially.
As he has done in the past, Trump extended clemency to some deserving recipients, including nonviolent drug offenders. But there were also grants of clemency that favored people with ties to the president or the Republican Party.
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The limousine “Tiger King” star Joe Exotic booked in hopes of receiving a presidential pardon was indeed a stretch after all. In more ways than one.
Team Exotic was reportedly so confident about the Netflix docuseries star being pardoned by former President Donald Trump that he had a limo parked near his Fort Worth prison and elaborate plans to be whisked away for a medical evaluation and pampering. This, after the embattled zoo operator, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, mounted one of the most high-profile campaigns to receive a pardon.
Exotic was sorely disappointed Wednesday when he was excluded from the list of pardons and commutations that came during Trump’s final hours in office. Exotic, convicted in April 2019 on federal charges of animal cruelty and attempting to hire a hitman to kill rival Carole Baskin, had choice words for the former POTUS and his son Don Jr. But it was too little, too late.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump used his final hours in office to wipe away convictions and prison sentences for a roster of corrupt politicians and business executives and bestow pardons on allies like Steve Bannon, his former chief strategist, and Elliott Broidy, one of his top fundraisers in 2016. The wave of clemency grants underscored how many of his close associates and supporters became ensnared in corruption cases and other legal troubles. Trump, however, did not pardon himself, family members or lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
The latest round of pardons and commutations 143 in total followed dozens last month, when Trump pardoned associates like Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. Bannon was under indictment on charges that he misused money he helped raise for a group backing Trump’s wall but had not yet gone to trial. Broidy pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws as part of a covert campaign to influence the Trump administration on behalf of Chinese and
Trump issues more than 140 pardons, includes 2 men from NC JONATHAN LEMIRE, ERIC TUCKER and JILL COLVIN, Associated Press
Trump issues more than 140 pardons, includes 2 men from NC
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President Trump issued a series of pardons and commutations in the final hours of his White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including two men from North Carolina.
There were 73 pardons and 70 commutations in total.
The last-minute clemency, announced after midnight on Wednesday, follows separate waves of pardons over the past month for Trump associates convicted in the FBI’s Russia investigation as well as for the father of his son-in-law.