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(CNN) – President Donald Trump’s expected pool of 100 pardons and commutations of sentences on the penultimate day of his presidency will be no higher than that of his recent predecessors. But his leniency record may well be the most controversial.
Unlike past presidents, Trump has shown little interest in using the Justice Department’s Pardon Counsel’s office to evaluate presidential clemency requests. Instead, applicants are approaching the White House directly, calling or emailing senior adviser Jared Kushner, White House Secretary General Mark Meadows, or White House attorney Pat Cipollone, when they cannot reach the Trump himself.
Many of the people Trump has chosen to pardon so far follow predictable lines: associates like Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, who remained loyal to him during his legal troubles; criminals with family or friendly ties to the administration, such as Jared Kushner’s father, Charles; celebrities or people related to celebrities, such as Rod Blagojevich, and those whose cause was taken up by the conservative media, such as the Blackwater security guards who massacred Iraqi civilians.
He has pardoned or commuted the sentences of some people serving long prison terms for minor crimes, like Alice Johnson, who spoke at the Republican National Convention.
Trump’s Pardon Record
But overall, Trump’s clemency record has surpassed historic norms. Many of the high-profile criminals he has pardoned have shown little contrition or remorse for their crimes and few have argued that they were wrongfully convicted.
He is expected to stick to that record Tuesday when he issues about 100 pardons or commutations. The latest batch of clemency measures would include a combination of pardons geared toward criminal justice reform and more controversial ones for political allies. The list is expected to include white-collar criminals, high-profile rappers and a prominent Palm Beach, Florida ophthalmologist who is in prison after being convicted of dozens of fraud charges.
During Trump’s last days in office there has been a flood of clemency requests from allies, lobbyists and others hoping to cash in on his loyalty to Trump. The New York Times reported Sunday that some of those people have been paid tens of thousands of dollars to lobby on behalf of criminals awaiting pardons.
“They all assumed there is no formal process and that they should communicate directly with the administration,” a person familiar with the matter told CNN. “Everyone hopes they have a friend of a friend of a friend of a cousin who they hope will help them get their email read.”
The last-minute leniency batch is in keeping with presidential tradition
President Barack Obama pardoned or commuted the sentences of 330 people the day before leaving office, a record number focused primarily on low-level drug offenders serving mandatory sentences.
President George W. Bush was more sparing with the use of pardons and commutations. He commuted the sentences of two border agents as he left office (Trump later pardoned them). But he wrote in his memoirs of how a flood of applications reached him when his term ended.
“One of the biggest surprises of my presidency was the flood of clemency requests at the end. I couldn’t believe how many people suggested to me that a friend or former colleague deserved a reprieve. At first I was frustrated. Then I was upset, “he wrote in his book” Decision Points. “
“I came to see a huge injustice in the system,” he added. If you had connections to the president, you could insert your case into the last minute frenzy. Otherwise, you would have to wait for the Justice Department to conduct a review and make a recommendation. In my last weeks in office, I decided that I would not pardon anyone who stepped out of the formal channels.
Bush said he told Obama on his joint limousine ride to the US Capitol for his inauguration to develop a policy of pardons from the start and stick to it.
Other presidents
President Bill Clinton drew scrutiny for his pardons and commutations for 140 people on his inauguration day in 2000, which included high-profile donors and political supporters such as Marc Rich, his half-brother Roger and Patty Hearst. Some of them persecuted the intermediaries, paid large sums and intervened with Clinton to defend their case. But most of the people on his list went through the Justice Department process.
President George Bush pardoned a dozen people a day before leaving office. President Ronald Reagan pardoned about 25 people during his last week as president. And President Jimmy Carter, upon leaving office, pardoned Pete Yarrow, of the Peter, Paul and Mary group, for a crime of “indecent liberties” with a 14-year-old girl.
