Presidential pardons: what Donald Trump is protecting his children from

Before Donald Trump leaves the White House in January, he is expected to grant a series of pardons to protect several people from criminal prosecution.

Yesterday, several American media revealed that among a list of preventive pardons on which he is reflecting are three of his children, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr, and his son-in-law.

It’s not exactly clear what all the pardons would be for if he goes ahead with them at this stage. However, Trump’s three oldest children have faced various legal entanglements during his presidency.

Trump Jr. had been under investigation for contact he had with Russians offering damaging information about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign and was never charged.

While Mueller’s team considered indicting Trump campaign officials in connection with a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, Donald Jr. eventually stepped down, not because he had done nothing wrong, but because Mueller concluded that he had not done anything wrong. he understood that he was committing a crime.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, provided false information to federal authorities about his contacts with foreigners when he applied for their security clearance, which can be charged with a federal crime, although the president gave him one anyway.

His wife and President Ivanka’s daughter have not been named in any federal investigation, but she was named as part of a Manhattan grand jury investigation.

It is important to note that a presidential pardon in the US only leaves out punishment for a federal crime, not for local or state crimes.

In this case, state prosecutors sent subpoenas to the Trump Organization after a New York Times investigation into Trump’s tax returns.

The Times reported that it first revealed that it had received $ 26 million in cancellations that came from fees it paid to consultants, including an apparent fee of $ 747,000 that allegedly matched a payment disclosed by Ivanka.

There is no indication that Ivanka is under investigation. In a tweet, he said the investigation was “outright harassment.”

He also sat down for a deposition yesterday with investigators from the Washington, DC attorney general’s office as part of his lawsuit alleging misuse of the inaugural funds, according to a court file seen by CNN.

The lawsuit alleges that the 2017 U.S. president’s inauguration committee misused donor funds.

In January, the attorney general’s office in Washington, DC, sued the Trump Organization and the Presidential Inauguration Committee, accusing them of abusing more than $ 1 million collected by nonprofits by “overpaying” for the use of the event space at the Trump Hotel in Washington for the 2017 event and enriching the Trump family in the process.

A new court file indicates that Ivanka is the last to be interviewed in the lawsuit, after the chair of the inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, was deposed late last month.

The records of Ms Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Barrack and former Inaugural Committee Vice Chair Rick Gates have been cited, according to the filing.

District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine accused the inaugural committee, which raised an unprecedented $ 107 million to host Trump’s inauguration celebrations, of coordinating with hotel management and members of the president’s family. to organize events.

Meanwhile, Eric Trump was deposed under oath as part of a civil investigation by the New York state attorney general’s office into whether the Trump Organization defrauded tax authorities or lenders by inflating the value of certain assets. Again, this is a state investigation, so it would not be covered by a federal pardon.

However, legal experts who spoke to the Washington Post said that the pardons the president is considering may have to do with protecting against future threats after Joe Biden takes office.

They said the president’s defense would be that he and his family were subjected to unfair investigations since the beginning of his presidency.

And, “almost certainly” he would say he hoped to protect them from politically motivated investigations.

The US media also reported yesterday that Trump has discussed a preventive pardon with his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. Again, it is unclear what the pardon would be for.

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor credited with leading the city out of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, has not been charged with any federal crimes.

However, the lawyer was recently investigated by federal prosecutors for his business in Ukraine.

He also allegedly played a role in eluding the US ambassador to Ukraine, which was part of Trump’s impeachment.

Giuliani did not respond to a message seeking comment, but issued a quick denial on Twitter.

Giuliani’s attorney, Robert Costello, told The New York Times: “He is not concerned about this investigation, because he did nothing wrong and that has been our position from day one.”

Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who wrote the original story, responded to Giuliani’s denial on Twitter.

He also disputed his denial that he had not requested $ 20,000 a day from the Trump campaign.

“It was in writing,” he said.

There is also a public discussion about Trump being granted a pardon for any crime he may be charged with related to his time in office, although the legality of that has never been proven.

Presidential pardons are a common feature of the last days of an American leader’s office.

Trump agreed to leave the White House on January 20, paving the way for President-elect Joe Biden.

A preventive pardon is rare, but it has happened before.

Gerald Ford forgave Richard Nixon for all his actions as president and Jimmy Carter forgave the thousands of Americans who illegally avoided conscription for the Vietnam War.

The reports come a week after Trump pardoned Michael Flynn, the former security adviser whose lies about his Russian contacts prompted the troubling investigation into Trump’s campaign collusion with Moscow.

The expected pardon was the first of several possible pardons that analysts believe the president could extend to political aides and allies before his resignation on January 20.

Those could include former 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort, also convicted in the Russia collusion investigation, Giuliani, former adviser Steve Bannon and Roger Stone, whose prison sentence for lying and tampering with the president has already been commuted.