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The outgoing US president has granted at least 15 pardons, two of which to two figures in the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential elections, which should not be the last until the end of his term.
Among the indulgences granted Tuesday by Republican Donald Trump is George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to the outgoing president during the 2016 campaign who pleaded guilty in 2017 to making false statements to federal authorities during Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who also pleaded guilty in 2018 to the same charge for which Papadopoulos was also pardoned by the outgoing president. These two prominent figures in the investigation that sought to find evidence of the Kremlin’s interference in the presidential elections that elected Trump were briefly detained and have now been pardoned.
The Associated Press (AP) news agency reports that Trump has granted 15 pardons, however, The New York Times highlights that there are 20 in total and that the still US head of state should grant more until he leaves the House. Branca, on January 20.
The list of pardons also included four Blackwater company security guards who were convicted of murdering Iraqi nationals while working as contractors in 2007.
One of which is Nicholas Slatten, contractor for the controversial Blackwatter company and who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States Department of Justice for his role in the murder of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, one of the biggest ‘stains’ of the American presence in the war in Iraq.
Also three former congressmen were pardoned by Donald Trump: Duncan Hunter (California), Chris Collins (New York) and Steve Stockman (Texas).
Duncan Hunter would begin serving an 11-month sentence starting in January after pleading guilty in 2019 to embezzlement of campaign funds.
The former New York congressman, one of the first Trump supporters in the 2016 White House race, is currently serving a 26-month sentence after pleading guilty last year to making false statements to the Federal Department. Investigation (FBI) and conspiracy to commit security fraud.
Steve Stockman was convicted in 2018 of fraud and money laundering and was serving a ten-year sentence.
This ‘wave’ of pardons, The New York Times continues, is not expected to be Trump’s last in the past month as president.
Pardons granted to people close to the outgoing president or to cases involving Trump show that the Republican has no problem using the indulgence for political and personal gain.
The Founding Fathers of the United States (“Founding Fathers”, by consensus: John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Marshall, George Mason, and George Washington) awarded the president the possibility of being the ‘last brake’ of the US judicial system, being able to grant pardons to whoever the head of state considers deserves.
Yet Trump has used this ‘power’ without any modesty or personal favor.
Jack Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard Law School, counted the 45 indulgences granted by Trump as of Tuesday, December 22, 2020, and concluded that about 88% were helping someone who has some connection to the president or who could, on the other hand, help him in his political ambitions.
Granting pardons to individuals associated with the investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, for example, helped former US Attorney General William Barr screw up this investigation by discrediting it and clarifying figures whose proven implication. or that he had admitted to participating in this Russian meddling campaign.
One question that still lingers less than a month after Trump leaves the White House is the possibility that the outgoing president will contemplate his own forgiveness.
The Constitution is silent on this issue, which divides the Constitutionalists, since it was never contemplated by a sitting president. And, although Trump does not say anything about whether he contemplates this possibility, several American political analysts believe that the Republican may try to take advantage of this possible gap to forgive crimes, such as tax evasion.
However, clemency should not be granted to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was sentenced in 2018 to seven years in prison on numerous charges, including tax and bank fraud.
Earlier this year, Manafort began serving house arrest due to fears associated with the spread of the pandemic, and in the meantime agreed to cooperate with investigators looking at Russian interference.
However, Paul Manafort was fired by investigators, who accused him of misleading them and of being useless for the investigation.
Because of this factor, highlights the American newspaper The New York Times, the circle close to Manafort hopes that Trump will forgive him.
