Why Donald Trump Could Unleash A Series Of Pardons Before Leaving The White House

Advocates and lawyers anticipate a series of clemency actions from President Donald Trump in the coming weeks that could test the limits of the presidential pardon power.

Trump is said to be considering a host of pardons and commutations before leaving office, potentially including members of his family, former aides, and even himself.

While it’s not unusual for presidents to sign controversial pardons walking out the door, Trump has made it clear that he has no qualms about intervening in the cases of friends and allies he believes have been wronged, including his former national security adviser. , Michael Flynn.

The list of potential candidates is long and colorful: former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, jailed for financial crimes as part of the Russia investigation; George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, as did Flynn; Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic”, who starred in the Netflix series “Tiger King”; and former contractors convicted in a Baghdad shooting that killed more than a dozen civilians, including women and children.

Trump, long concerned about potential legal exposure after leaving office, has expressed concern to confidants in recent weeks that he, his family, or his business may be targeted by President-elect Joe Biden’s Justice Department. although Biden has made it clear that he will not. be part of such decisions.

Nonetheless, Trump has had informal talks with allies about how he could protect his family, although he has not taken any steps to do so.

Their adult children have not asked for forgiveness or feel they need it, according to people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.

Trump has also discussed the possibility of protecting himself, The New York Times reported for the first time. In a video posted on Facebook on Wednesday, he made a brief reference to its potential vulnerabilities.

“Now I hear that these same people who failed to get me to Washington have sent all the information to New York so they can try to get me there,” he said.

The speculation prompted a series of preemptive rejections from critics.

“Normally, if someone is granted a clemency, it suggests they may have committed a crime. That is not something I would like to associate with my family,” said Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, a frequent critic of Trump.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has denounced the idea of ​​the president asking staff if he can grant preventive pardons for himself, his family members and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, with whom Trump has discussed possible action.

“There is a simple answer: No. No, Mr. President, that would be a flagrant abuse of the authority of the presidential pardon,” Schumer said.

Presidents enjoy broad clemency powers when it comes to federal crimes. That includes granting clemency to people who have not yet been charged, as President Gerald Ford did in 1974 when he pardoned his predecessor, Richard Nixon.

But presidents cannot grant pardons for state crimes nor can they circumvent the law by pardoning people for crimes that have not yet occurred, according to legal experts. It is not clear whether a president has the power to forgive himself.

No one has tried.

A decades-old opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel suggests that presidents cannot forgive themselves because it would require them to serve as judges in their own cases, but it also posits that a president could declare himself unable to serve, transfer power to your vice president and get a pardon that way.

Presidents often grant controversial clemency grants to friends and donors when they leave office: Bill Clinton pardoned wealthy financier Marc Rich, and Ronald Reagan pardoned New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

But Trump’s position is notable given the large number of former aides and allies who have been jailed, charged or face legal risks. Among them are Manafort, Manafort MP Rick Gates, President Roger Stone’s longtime friend and adviser, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon and his former attorney Michael Cohen.

Stone and Flynn are among those Trump has already granted clemency.

In most administrations, 99% of those who receive pardons are people the public never hears about, while the remaining 1% receive 99% of the attention, said Brian Kalt, a law professor at the University. Michigan State.

But Trump’s interest in celebrities and high-profile figures has thrown those percentages out of balance.

“You can see the appeal of the power of forgiveness for someone like him,” Kalt said. “It’s the only thing the president says and gets done with. You don’t have to deal with the ‘deep state’. It doesn’t have to go through congressional oversight or judicial review. “

In previous administrations, pardons have gone through a formal review process at the Justice Department in which lawyers carefully examine cases before making recommendations to the White House. Trump has largely sidestepped that process, relying instead on a more random approach that has favored candidates whose cases have resonated with him personally or who have been championed by celebrities like Kim Kardashian West.

As the results of last month’s elections have become clear, those seeking pardons before Trump leaves office have redoubled their efforts to attract the attention of the White House, relying on high-profile attorneys from Washington, bolstering efforts. of public relations and, in the case of Papadopoulos, writing a book, which appears on Fox News and speaks to the media.

“I just want the facts to be known about what exactly happened in my situation and for the American public to determine its logical conclusion. What I hope is a pardon. I do not expect it, but I would be honored to accept one.” he told The Associated Press.

Giuliani, meanwhile, has spoken directly to the president about a pardon. The two men have had preliminary conversations on the matter, but it’s unclear how serious they have been.

Beyond the bold names, however, are the common people, behind bars, who have tried to argue that they were wrongly sentenced or deserve a second chance.

“A lot of people are asking for help,” said Alice Marie Johnson, who had been serving a life sentence without parole until Trump commuted her sentence in 2018 after her case was defended by Kardashian West.

Trump has since featured Johnson’s story in a Super Bowl ad and pardoned it during this year’s Republican National Convention.

Johnson, who has already successfully lobbied the president to take action on several other people’s cases, said he met with Trump again at the White House several weeks ago to bring additional cases, all for people with “incredible rehabilitation and Unbelievable prison record. “.

“Personally, I hope to see people home before Christmas,” he said. “Families across the country are praying for a Christmas miracle.”

The White House did not respond to questions, and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she had “not heard any mention of pardons in any conversations she has had at the White House” other than Flynn.

So far, Trump has used his clemency power less often than any president in modern history, according to Justice Department data compiled by the Pew Research Center.

It shows that he has granted clemency 44 times, fewer than any other president since at least William McKinley.

“You have over 13,000 petitions filed by all these people who followed the rules,” who filed requests, that people wrote letters on their behalf and waited years for their cases to be processed, said Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor and professor at the University of St. Thomas.

He has participated in several meetings at the White House during Trump’s tenure as officials brainstormed possible changes to the formal clemency process.

“For those people who should be free,” he said, the approach of Trump’s friends and family on pardons is “a real and profound tragedy.”