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US President Donald Trump has announced a new wave of pardons in the last hundred meters of his presidential term to protect his former allies, subordinates and others close to him, but also several people involved in a bloody massacre in Iraq. in 2007, The Guardian reports.
Among those pardoned are those who pleaded guilty in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s influence in the 2016 election, links between the Trump campaign and Russia, but also Trump’s possible obstruction of justice. in these areas. cases.
Other Trump allies were also pardoned: former members of Congress convicted of corruption but who supported the current president at the time of his bid for the US presidency in 2016.
Among the more notorious names are George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016 who lied to the FBI about Trump’s campaign contacts with Russian emissaries Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer sentenced to 30 days in prison after admit he lied to Mueller investigators; former Congressmen Duncan Hunter (convicted of embezzlement of election campaign funds) and Chris Collins (convicted of influence peddling); Four men, Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, were involved in a massacre in Iraq in 2007. They were convicted of killing several civilians in Baghdad, including a 9-year-old boy and a mother who was trying to escape with a child in arms.
Trump previously pardoned Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser suspected of sympathizing with the Russians. Former Army General Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington. He was an adviser to Trump for only a few weeks, until the scandal of the meeting with the Russian diplomat broke out.
Secret talks between Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador to Washington in December 2016, prior to Donald Trump’s inauguration, were at the center of special counsel Robert Mueller’s subsequent investigation into suspicions of a secret deal between the Donald Trump’s campaign team. and Russia.
Before his resignation, William Barr of the White House Justice Department had launched an investigation into the alleged clemency plan in exchange for “political contributions.” The document, drawn up in the department headed by William Barr, did not name Donald Trump or others close to him, but came in the context of media reports that the US president is bracing for a wave. of pardons before leaving office mid-month. future.
Publisher: Adrian Dumitru
