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According to the New York Times, Trump pardoned 20 people just before Christmas.
The list includes people connected with the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, former congressmen and four convicted war criminals.
According to the newspaper, the vast majority of those who have been pardoned by Trump so far in his presidency are people who have close ties to him.
Will reverse Mueller investigation
Among those pardoned Tuesday is George Papadopoulos, who was accused, among other things, of giving a false statement in a letter specializing in investigator Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Papadopoulos’s pardon is seen as another blow to the Mueller investigation. It was the Papadopoulos investigation that in many ways triggered the entire Mueller investigation, which loomed over Trump for nearly two years of his presidency.
Alex van der Zwaan, who was linked to the Mueller investigation, is also pardoned. The AP news agency writes that this is part of a comprehensive attempt by Trump to reverse the results of the investigation, which led to charges against several of his close supporters.
I spent money on my daughter’s birthday
Former Republican Democrat Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins are also among the people now being pardoned by Trump.
Collins was the first member of Congress to support Trump and was sentenced to two years and two months in prison for giving his son inside information.
Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing promotional funds and using them on everything from nights out in town with friends to throwing a birthday party for his daughter.
Massacre in Iraq
Four Blackwater affiliates who are serving sentences for their role in a massacre in Baghdad that killed dozens of Iraqi civilians and prompted international condemnation are also pardoned.
These are Nicolas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard. All four served long prison terms before being pardoned.
His supporters have long been pushing for the sentences to be overturned, claiming that the four were punished too harshly and that the investigation was carried out incorrectly.
