How Trump Has Exploited Pardons and Clemency to Reward Allies and Supporters

With Trump, everything is for sale (or barter)

By Jeremy Kohler for ProPublica

The beneficiaries of Donald Trump’s mercy in his second term have mostly been people with access to the president or his inner circle. Those who have followed the rules set out by the Department of Justice, meanwhile, are still waiting.

Trump has granted clemency to allies, donors and culture-war figures — as well as felons who, like him, were convicted of financial wrongdoing. On Friday, he granted pardons to 77 people, including Rudy Giuliani and other allies tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, though they are mostly symbolic because federal pardons do not apply to ongoing or possible state prosecutions, which many of the grantees face. 

Those clemencies came on top of the commutation awarded last month to George Santos, the disgraced former New York congressman found guilty of defrauding donors and lying to the House of Representatives. Trump cut short Santos’ seven-year sentence after less than three months.

For those who followed the standard protocol set out by the Department of Justice, the sense is growing that the process no longer matters; they’ve watched the public database of applicants swell with thousands of pending cases, while Trump grants pardons to people who never entered the system at all.

In just over nine months back in office, roughly 10,000 people have filed petitions for pardons or commutations, about two-thirds the total of the 14,867 applications submitted during the entire Biden presidency.

Under Justice Department standards and requirements, people seeking pardons generally must wait five years after their release from incarceration, demonstrate good conduct and remorse, and file petitions through the Office of the Pardon Attorney. But Trump’s actions in his second term show he has largely abandoned that process.

Trump Pardons His Co-Conspirators in 2020 Coup Attempt

If you are a Republican, you can do anything

Stephen Prager for Common Dreams

Donald Trump has given a “full, complete, and unconditional” pardon to a long list of allies who conspired to help him overturn his loss in the 2020 election.

Late Sunday night, Justice Department attorney Ed Martin posted a list of over 70 people who would receive pardons. Many of the figures included were named as unindicted co-conspirators or charged at the state level for their roles in the plot to knowingly spread false claims of widespread voter fraud in an attempt to push states to reject former President Joe Biden’s victories in key swing states and pressure Vice President Mike Pence into stopping the certification of the election.

Among those pardoned are Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who publicly promoted baseless claims of a vast conspiracy against the president to the public, claiming that the election was stolen by a cabal of foreign infiltrators and scheming election officials. They later faced defamation lawsuits for these claims, and in legal proceedings, Giuliani conceded he made false statements about election workers, while Powell’s lawyers argued that “no reasonable person” would conclude her public claims were statements of fact.

Trump also pardoned former chief of staff Mark Meadows, who acted as a facilitator between the president and state officials he attempted to bully into saying he won the election. Aside from the president himself, Meadows was the highest-ranking White House staffer on the phone call in which Trump asked Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” him enough votes to be declared the winner of the election.

Also receiving pardons were attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro. They were part of what Pence called Trump’s “gaggle of crackpot lawyers,” who concocted the tortured legal theory that the vice president could declare Biden’s victory in swing states illegitimate and anoint Trump as the winner. Eastman privately admitted to Trump that the scheme was illegal but pressed ahead with it anyway, culminating in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, during which Trump supporters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence,” and tried to stop the election results from being certified.

Times sure do change

Is Trump’s MAGA Base Really the White Working Class?

Don't miss the profiteers

LES LEOPOLD for Common Dreams

When we hear the words “MAGA base” we think “white working class.” Right?

“I love the poorly educated.” —Donald J. Trump, February 24, 2016

“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.” —Hillary Clinton, September 10, 2016

Eight years after Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump made this connection part of our conventional wisdom, the idea is still presented as gospel in the New York Times.

On January 15, 2024, its front page article (“How College-Educated Republicans Learned to Love Trump Again,”) starts with this sentence: “Working-class voters delivered the Republican Party to Donald J. Trump.” (A day earlier its online edition started with “White working-class voters are Donald Trump’s base.”)

No evidence at all is provided because none is needed, we’re all supposed to know it is true.

Why Rudy Giuliani can declare bankruptcy while you can’t

He's rich but claims to be broke - and you're not

ROBERT REICH in Robertreich.Substack.Com

Getty Images

Within days of a nearly $150 million judgment against former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for defaming Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the election workers Giuliani falsely claimed stole the 2020 election in Georgia for President Joe Biden, Giuliani filed for bankruptcy.

He thereby shielded himself from having to surrender his assets to fulfill the judgment, at least in the near term.

The long term may be quite long. Freeman and Moss may not see a penny of that judgment for many years, and when they do, it’s likely to be far less than $150 million.

One of the most basic of all questions in a market economy is what to do when someone can’t pay what they owe. The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 4) authorizes Congress to enact “uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States.”

Congress has done so repeatedly. In the last few decades, Congress’ changes have reflected the demands of the wealthy, giant corporations, and Wall Street banks, which have made it harder for average people to declare bankruptcy but easier for themselves to do it.

Many people are too broke to go bankrupt. Filing for bankruptcy costs money, as does hiring an attorney (which is the best way to make sure you actually get debt relief). Because attorney fees, like other debts, are wiped out in a bankruptcy, most bankruptcy lawyers require clients to pay in full before filing.

What a mug!

For more cartoons by Ruben Bolling, CLICK HERE

Actually, he gave that up a while ago

By Bill Bramhall

 

RICO isn't just about mobsters

It also applies to grifters who practice organized political crime - like the former guy

Gabriel J. Chin, University of California, Davis

By Michael deAdder

It might seem odd to some that former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants, many of whom are lawyers and served as senior government officials, were charged with racketeering regarding their alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Racketeering charges are complex but generally speak to dishonest business dealings.

Many racketeering prosecutions involve lucrative criminal enterprises, such as illegal drug operations or the Mafia.

Whatever the lawfulness of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, no one claims his conduct was part of a Mafia scheme.

I am a scholar of criminal law and procedure. Prosecutors sometimes charge white-collar defendants who are not part of a mob with RICO violations.

Trump is set to be arraigned on Sept. 6, 2023, in Atlanta, for his alleged attempt to overturn the election in that state. At that time, he will be read his formal charges and will plead guilty or, far more likely, not guilty.

A graphic from 1933 shows where different gang leaders,
including Al Capone, operated. Before 1970, members of the
Mafia or other similar groups were tried individually for their crimes.
 Bettmann/Getty Images

A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, indicted Trump and 18 other political associates on Aug. 15, 2023. They are facing charges under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, often called RICO.

Trump and others, including former Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani, are also charged with a number of other specific crimes such as forgery, filing false documents and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Trump’s mug shot is now a means of entertainment and fundraising

But it will go down in history as an important cultural artifact

Jonathan Finn, Wilfrid Laurier University

One of the most anticipated events in the summer of 2023 was former President Donald Trump’s mug shot.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s office released Trump’s mug shot on Aug. 24, 2023, a little more than one week after a grand jury in Georgia indicted the former president and 18 associates for alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Trump’s photo instantly generated a significant amount of media coverage and attracted public attention. Trump’s election campaign is now marketing the photo as a way to raise money. It’s also been used to ridicule and criticize him.

In the mug shot, Trump wears one of his classic dark suits with a red tie and a familiar, petulant scowl, with his brow furrowed and mouth turned down.

Save for the gold seal of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, there is nothing particularly noteworthy or interesting about the image.

But Trump’s mug shot’s ultimate importance is yet to be realized.

I have been interested in and researching mug shots and other forms of identification for more than 20 years. I did my Ph.D. thesis on the uses of photography in criminal identification and in 2009 wrote my first book, “Capturing the Criminal Image: From Mug Shot to Surveillance Society,” on the same topic.

It will likely be at least a decade or two before Trump’s mug shot’s significance truly registers with people. For now, it is a form of entertainment – a salacious piece of visual culture that Trump’s supporters and opponents have been waiting for and are now putting to use.

But as a historical artifact, the Trump mug shot will be truly unique – it will represent the first time a former president had a public, photographic record of criminal charges.

Long after the various trials come to conclusion, the mug shot will serve as a reminder of a particularly troubling time in American history.

Federal Judge says Guiliani not the victim for failing to follow court rules

Giuliani Liable for Defaming Two Georgia Election Workers

JAKE JOHNSON for Common Dreams

A federal judge on August 30 ruled that Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump's erstwhile personal attorney, is legally liable for defaming Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, Georgia election workers who have endured death threats and harassment since Giuliani falsely accused them of committing fraud during the 2020 presidential contest.

Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in a scathing 57-page opinion that "rather than simply play by the rules designed to promote a discovery process necessary to reach a fair decision on the merits of plaintiffs' claims, Giuliani has bemoaned plaintiffs' efforts to secure his compliance as 'punishment by process.'"

"Donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences," Howell added, "but in a court of law this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery in a straightforward defamation case, with the concomitant necessity of repeated court intervention."

Life in the Trump lane

 

GOP shows us how to run an investigation

 

Fair and balanced

For more cartoons by Ruben Bolling, CLICK HERE

Oh, the horror!

 

Defending Donald

For more cartoons by Tom Tomorrow, CLICK HERE.

 

Witchcraft

For more cartoons by Tom Tomorrow, CLICK HERE.

 

How to defend Donald

For more cartoons by Tom Tomorrow, CLICK HERE.

 

Confederacy of Dunces

 

URI Board of Trustees votes unanimously to revoke honorary degrees to Lt. Gen. (ret) Michael Flynn and former NYC Mayor Rudi Giuliani.

No degrees for liars and insurrectionists

Dawn Bergantino

The University of Rhode Island Board of Trustees voted today to revoke the honorary degrees previously awarded to retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. At the request of the URI Faculty Senate Executive Committee, the URI Honorary Degree Committee deliberated in December 2021, and forwarded its recommendation to URI President Marc Parlange at the end of the month.

“After reviewing the recommendation from the President, who endorsed the committee’s recommendation, the Board voted to approve the revocation of these honorary degrees,” said Chair of the Board of Trustees Margo Cook. “The Board of Trustees supports the University and its mission to uphold its values, especially its commitment to intellectual and ethical leadership and fostering an environment of diversity and respect.”

“I agree with the Board’s decision,” said President Parlange. “Based on the findings of the Honorary Degree Committee, I made a recommendation to the Board of Trustees to revoke the honorary degrees of General Flynn and Mayor Giuliani, agreeing that they no longer represent the highest level of our values and standards that were evident when we first bestowed the degree.”

Flynn and Giuliani are disgraceful

URI President Parlange “Revoke Honorary Degrees”

by BETH COMERYin The Providence Daily Dose

No honorary degrees for seditionists

URI President Marc Parlange has sent a letter to the board of trustees asking that they revoke the honorary degrees awarded to Michael Flynn and Rudy Giuliani. The board will be voting tomorrow, Friday. (Come on people, this one is easy.)

I had written about this issue last September, urging alums and Rhode Islanders to contact the president’s office about revoking Flynn’s honor (the last time you will see those two words next to each other). I wrote again at the end of the month when Stephen Colbert was appearing at Alumni Weekend. But I simply had no memory of Giuliani’s also being a recipient of an honorary degree — the “Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa — back in 2003 under President Carothers. From the WPRI report:

Parlange argued that Flynn’s suggestion that a military coup was needed in the United States and the fact Giuliani has been suspended from practicing law because of his unfounded claims of fraud during the 2020 election are among the reasons why they shouldn’t keep their honorary degrees.

“As a civic institution, URI has the privilege and responsibility to sustain and preserve American democracy by inspiring and modeling good citizenship,” Parlange wrote. “Revoking these honorary degrees reinforces our values and allows us to lead with truth and integrity.”

And by showing no favor to a native Rhode Islander, we can send a message to the country that this is an institution that stands for something.

So thank you President Parlange for doing the right thing, unlike your spineless (possibly worse) predecessor — since retired to Montana — who actively refused all requests to rescind the honorary degree. From the ProJo:

The recommendation by URI President Marc Parlange, who arrived here in August, is an about-face from former URI President David M. Dooley, who did not forward a recommendation to the board of trustees regarding Flynn’s honorary degree.

At the time, URI spokeswoman Linda Acciardo said the trustees did not take a position on this issue.

“He is not forwarding a recommendation to the trustees,” Acciardo said last summer. “The degree stands.”

Let’s not forget how questionable Dooley’s honor to Flynn was at the time. By 2014, as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Flynn was giving lectures on leadership at the Moscow headquarters of the Russian military intelligence directorate. The WashPo noted at the time that Flynn was universally disliked and distrusted:

Critics said that his management style could be chaotic and that the scope of his plans met resistance from both superiors and subordinates. At the same time, his tenure was marked by significant turbulence, including the fallout from the classified intelligence files leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, as well as other emerging crises.

President Parlange concluded in his letter:

As a civic institution, URI has the privilege and responsibility to sustain and preserve American democracy by inspiring and modeling good citizenship. Revoking these honorary degrees reinforces our values and allows us to lead with truth and integrity.