Burglars clean out father-son jewelers, snatch heirlooms, ‘a lifetime's worth of work'
Simi Valley business owner Jonathan Youssef raced to his modest jewelry and repair shop on Memorial Day morning, fearing the worst.
The business owner next door had called him just after 6 a.m. to say that burglars had broken into their coffee and candy store and also breached Youssef's establishment, 5 Star Jewelry & Watch Repair.
His father and the shop's founder, 71-year-old Jacoub Youssef, had already reached the store located inside a strip mall.
The safe appeared intact. Jacoub tried to reassure his just-arriving son — and perhaps himself: 'They didn't open the safe.'
But Jonathan wasn't so sure.
'It was like a movie, like 'Ocean's Eleven' or 'The Italian Job,'' said Jonathan Youssef, the store's co-owner. 'I couldn't believe it, but I told my dad to open the safe.'
The patriarch did so, only to find gold bullion, customer jewelry, decades of savings and other items missing.
'It was a lifetime's worth of work — of struggle — gone, just gone,' Jonathan Youssef told The Times on Tuesday evening as he fought back tears. 'Everything we owned and, worse, family heirlooms of our customers are gone. It's unthinkable.'
Simi Valley police received a call at 6:33 a.m. from the Youssefs. Senior Officer Casey Nicholson said an unknown number of burglars gained access to Dr. Conkey's Candy & Coffee shop next door through the roof.
Nicholson did not confirm how the burglars moved into the jewelry and repair shop, noting that the crime was still under investigation. Surveillance footage provided to KTLA showed burglars crawling on the floor.
Jonathan Youssef said detectives told him the burglars spray-painted security cameras as they entered Dr. Conkey's. They then spent about three hours cutting through both walls and about eight inches of his 5,000-pound safe. They cut a crate-sized hole and seized everything inside.
'They were no slouches, and this wasn't their first rodeo,' Jonathan Youssef said of the burglars. 'They knew where the cameras were, how to evade detection and what equipment to use to get into the safe.'
Jonathan Youssef estimated his store lost between $2 million and $2.5 million in personal inventory — gold bullion, silver bars, white gold and platinum pieces, cash, multiple high-end Rolex, TAG Heuer and Omega watches, center-stone diamond engagement rings and more.
'It was store merchandise and the accumulation of a lifetime's worth of work for my dad,' Jonathan Youssef said. 'He's been devastated over the loss.'
Jonathan Youssef said his father had been 'too distraught' to speak with the media. The elder Youssef emigrated to the United States from Egypt in the early 1970s as a 19-year-old.
He's owned several other small businesses and handed over the jewelry store, which he opened 25 years earlier, to his son in 2015, Jonathan Youssef said.
They had just decided to reduce store hours as his father neared retirement; Jonathan had purchased a sign Monday reflecting the change.
'He was slowly dwindling his hours away from the store until his actual retirement at the end of the year,' Jonathan Youssef said.
But those plans are now in flux.
The younger Youssef said his store couldn't afford to insure what was in their safe, so it's a total loss. The only part that is covered by insurance is the damaged and ultimately ineffective safe, Jonathan Youssef said.
'My father doesn't want to retire now,' the son said. 'He wants to work to help recoup some of these losses.'
The younger Youssef estimates the store is in the red several hundred thousand dollars because of the loss of jewelry belonging to roughly 100 neighborhood customers. He said the store's main business was not selling jewelry, but altering and repairing it.
'Those are the irreplaceable items that are difficult to accept,' Jonathan Youssef said. 'I could care less about our inventory.'
Since news broke, customers have turned the store into a de facto memorial site, Jonathan Youssef said.
'I've had ladies coming here and crying about their stolen engagement rings or grandma's diamond earrings,' he said. 'There was a guy who screamed in my face about his wife's wedding ring, and it just hurts. It's rough.'
Kathi Van Etten, chief executive and president of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the burglary shocked the neighborhood.
'It's so hard because this is such a safe community and you don't expect these types of things to happen,' she said. 'And they did everything right, from having security and taking precautions.'
Van Etten said some chamber members had reached out to her to ask how they could help. She said some were planning to bring meals to the Youssefs.
'This is the type of community where people stick together and help each other,' Van Etten said.
The younger Youssef said he'd been sustained by community members who had delivered well wishes and hugs since shortly after the burglary.
One of his top customers created an online fundraising campaign, hoping to raise $20,000 to help defray some of the losses. The fund has nearly hit $18,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
'My family is grateful to Simi Valley, to our community, for everything,' he said. 'We have an obligation to this community, and we're not going to rest until everyone who lost something is compensated.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump pardons drive a big, burgeoning business for lobbyists
Seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump has become big business for lobbying and consulting firms close to the administration, with wealthy hopefuls willing to spend millions of dollars for help getting their case in front of the right people. 'From a lobbying perspective, pardons have gotten profitable,' said one lobbyist whose firm has received such calls. There's no set rate for pardon help. But two people directly familiar with proposals to lobbying firms said they knew of a client's offer of $5 million to help get a case to Trump. These people, like others, were granted anonymity to speak candidly. And while such high numbers do not seem to be standard, they speak to a burgeoning pardon economy. A $5 million figure is higher than numbers The New York Times reported Trump allies receiving for pardon help in his first term. In 2021, the outlet reported that Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who advised the White House on pardons, was receiving five-figure amounts for the work, according to filings and a client. The Times also reported that John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer convicted of disclosing classified information, was told that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump ally, could help secure him a pardon for $2 million; Giuliani disputed that account. Cozying up to a president's allies or hiring lobbyists to gain access to clemency isn't new. But along with the price spike, what's different now is that Trump is issuing pardons on a rolling basis — rather than most coming at the end of the administration. 'It's like the Wild West,' a Trump ally and lobbyist said. 'You can basically charge whatever you want.' The increased use of the pardon power has some familiar with the process concerned about the appearance of financial and political favoritism that can erode confidence in the clemency process. 'This is very destructive to our justice system. It delegitimizes the pardon power,' said Elizabeth Oyer, who served as pardon attorney for the Department of Justice during President Joe Biden's administration. 'It entrenches a two-tier system of justice in which wealth really can be a get-out-of-jail-free card.' 'All pardon and commutation decisions are solely made by President Trump, who is always willing to give well-deserving Americans a second chance — especially those who have been unfairly targeted by a corrupt justice system,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. Since Trump took office in January, he has pardoned or granted executive clemency to more than 1,500 people, most related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It's a significant uptick from a similar time frame during his first term in office. Even without the Jan. 6 defendants, Trump has pardoned 58 people; in his previous administration, Trump had pardoned just one person in his first year. In the past week alone, Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of 27 people. Many clemency recipients have been people with the means to elevate their case — allies, donors, celebrities and former politicians. There is a process for vetting pardon applications through the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, but presidents have not always followed it. Some of the pardons Trump is granting, involving people currently incarcerated, would not be able to make it through the typical process. Unless the Justice Department grants a waiver, the regulations say that petitioners need to wait until five years after either the conviction or the end of their sentence, and they place a premium on acceptance of responsibility. As of this week, there are 6,394 applications for commutations and 1,529 applications for pardons. Not every Trump-aligned lobbyist is eager to take pardon work; some who have turned down offers said they have passed them along to a small handful of Trump supporters who then help the pardon-seeker get on the president's radar. In some cases, referral fees are paid to the lobbying firms even if they are not directly engaged to do the work, according to three people familiar with the process. 'There are others, like us, who have turned down a bunch of that work, but generally the way that works is that they get referred to others who are helping,' said a Washington-based lobbyist whose firm has been approached by people seeking a pardon. The person said that roughly half their client inquiries in recent months have been for pardon help. In the past, it was roughly 1 in 50 client solicitations. The Trump ally who is also a lobbyist said their firm is not taking pardon clients out of concern that they could face blowback when the political winds inevitably change. Another lobbyist said they turn down pardon work because it feels 'sketchy.' In a case that drew significant attention this week, Trump pardoned reality-TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted in 2022 on fraud and tax evasion-related charges. The two built a national following through their reality show 'Chrisley Knows Best.' The pardons came after a public pressure campaign led by their daughter Savannah, a prominent Trump supporter with nearly 3 million followers on Instagram. Key to reaching Trump is pushing a message that will appeal to the president, particularly one around a politicization of justice by Democrats or overzealous prosecutors. 'Weaponization is real,' said Tolman, who is now a Fox News contributor and the executive director of the conservative-leaning criminal justice reform group Right on Crime. 'If you are in power and you are willing to use the power of the prosecution to go after your political adversaries, how do we fix it?' His comments came during a 2024 panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference focused on the 'weaponization' of the justice system. The panel also included now-Attorney General Pam Bondi and Savannah Chrisley, who used the platform to talk about her parents' case. Tolman has become one of the go-tos for help when people are seeking Trump pardons. He helped the Chrisleys, as well as Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. At the end of Trump's first term, he also lobbied Trump to pardon Ross Ulbricht, who in 2015 was sentenced to life in prison on narcotics and money-laundering charges related to his dark web marketplace Silk Road. Getting Ulbricht out of prison became a cause célèbre to many on the political right who thought he was unjustly targeted by the justice system. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to pardon Ulbricht, and he did so as one of his first acts after taking office. Tolman did not respond to a request seeking comment. Other Trump allies who have played influential roles in the pardon process over the past few weeks include Washington attorney Adam Katz, who previously represented Giuliani and helped secure a sentence commutation for a California businesswoman in Trump's first term. Katz did not return a request seeking comment, but lobbyists interviewed by NBC News named him, along with Tolman, as two of the people to whom they refer pardon work. Corcoran Partners, a Florida-based lobbying firm whose managing partner includes Matt Blair, the brother of Trump deputy chief of staff James Blair, has also registered to lobby on federal pardon issues for the first time. In March, Matt Blair's firm registered to lobby on 'pardon' issues for Juno Empire Inc., a Miami-based company that is identified in federal lobbying records as a 'medical billing advocate.' It's not clear what this company does or what its issue is, and there was no contact information available for Juno. Corcoran Partners did not return a request for comment. Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone also registered in February to lobby for Roger Ver, who is nicknamed 'Bitcoin Jesus' and, if extradited from Spain, faces up to 109 years in prison for, among other things, allegations that he tried to evade nearly $50 million in tax payments. It's the first time Stone's firm, Drake Ventures, formally registered to lobby on pardon issues, records show. An attorney for Ver did not return a request for comment. Some lawyers also see new hope for their clients in Trump's willingness to issue pardons. Tim Parlatore, a former member of Trump's legal team, represented Adm. Robert Burke, who was convicted in May of bribery. Parlatore told NBC News that he had unsuccessfully attempted to get Justice Department leadership to reconsider the Burke case before it went to trial, and that he'd try to secure a pardon now that Burke has been convicted. 'I think I have a great appeal for Burke, but will I go and ask for a pardon? Absolutely! You'd be crazy not to,' he said. 'The way that that case was investigated and presented, I believe, was fundamentally unfair.' Parlatore said he wanted to 'pursue all possible remedies' for his client. 'I'll go to call people and try to figure this thing out, whether it's Ed Martin, Alice Johnson,' he said, referring to Trump's pardon attorney and his more informal 'pardon czar.' 'I just want to make sure that that gets in front of the right people to make a decision.' The president's pardon power, a vestige of the British monarchy, is largely unchecked. Trump isn't the first person to face criticism for controversial pardons. But the perception that Trump is leaning into rewarding supporters was boosted last week when Martin, Trump's current pardon attorney, openly signaled the political motivations for the pardon given to Scott Jenkins. The former Virginia sheriff was facing 10 years in prison after a federal jury found him guilty of taking $75,000 in return for doling out law enforcement authority to local businessmen, as well as two undercover FBI special agents. 'No MAGA left behind,' Martin posted on X after the pardon was announced. One staffer familiar with the pardon process said Martin and the administration were trying to 'undo the damage from weaponization,' often choosing to pardon people they felt were unfairly targeted. 'You have a president who's going to exercise his presidential powers that he has from the Constitution, whether or not there's some guidebook,' they said. 'He does it on trade, he does it on immigration, and he does it everywhere.' That staffer and other Trump allies argue that it was Biden's use of the power that has set the precedent under which they are currently operating. Biden pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 8,000 people, including to his son Hunter, who was set to be sentenced on federal gun charges just weeks before the pardon was issued. On the way out of office, he also issued pre-emptive pardons for some members of his family, worried Trump would try to prosecute them. An administration official called Biden's pardon decisions an 'absolutely earth-shattering departure from presidential norms.' Trump supporters argue the potential hit to a president's reputation that previously existed for the perception of politicizing the clemency process is no longer there. 'It's become easier after Hunter's pardon. Long gone are the days of an eleventh-hour pardon. It has become more transactional,' the Trump ally and lobbyist said. Beyond increased payments to lobbying firms to help secure pardons, family members of those seeking pardons have also found it useful to amplify their platform by going on conservative media outlets that Trump is known to watch or appear in MAGA-friendly spaces. Savannah Chrisley, for example, spoke at the Republican National Convention and suggested her parents were targeted for being conservative. During a press conference Friday, she said it was a 'misconception' that she 'either paid for a pardon or slept for a pardon' for her parents. She said she simply went to Washington and made sure she was in 'the right room at the right time' and 'begged for meetings.' 'Many people have come on my OAN program to make their case for pardons,' former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who became a news anchor for One America News Network after Trump unsuccessfully tried to install him as attorney general, told NBC News. 'Some have not. Some might get granted in the future. I trust President Trump's judgment.' Gaetz says he himself has not officially focused on pardon work but said his show, like others, can help amplify a pardon-seeker's case. 'I've covered pardons as a journalist,' he said. 'One way people get on the pardon radar is coming on my show and making their case on other media President Trump is known to watch.' This article was originally published on
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Drunk driver caused fiery crash that killed 7 near Yellowstone National Park, police say
Drunk driver caused fiery crash that killed 7 near Yellowstone National Park, police say Show Caption Hide Caption Seven dead after tour van, pickup crash near Yellowstone National Park Seven people died after a pickup truck and a tour van collided near Yellowstone National Park, police say. The driver of a pickup truck involved in a deadly and fiery collision near Yellowstone National Park earlier this month was intoxicated at over twice the legal limit, authorities have determined. The crash on May 1 left seven people dead, including the driver of the pickup and six of the 14 who were on board a tour van. The two vehicles collided at about 7:15 p.m. local time near Henry's Lake in Island Park, Idaho, about 20 miles from the park, causing both to burst into flames, according to the Idaho State Police. The crash shut down Highway 20 for about seven hours, authorities said. The pickup driver, who was identified as 25-year-old Isaih Moreno of Humble, Texas, had a blood alcohol content of 0.20%, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08%, state police said in an update on May 30. Moreno was determined to be the at-fault driver in the collision. Police said the pickup crossed the center line into oncoming traffic, causing the crash. First responders including an air ambulance treated more than a dozen patients. Shortly after the crash, bystanders and a Fremont County sheriff's deputy helped injured people in the van as it went up in flames, Idaho State Police said. Idaho State Police said the crash happened just as Idaho prepared to enter a period known as the "100 Deadliest Days" – the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day when "traffic fatalities typically rise due to increased summer travel, holidays, and impaired driving." Alcohol is the leading cause of traffic deaths in Idaho, the state police said. 'This tragedy should be a wake-up call,' Captain Chris Weadick said in a statement. 'No one plans to cause a crash or take a life when they get behind the wheel, but choices have consequences. Impaired driving isn't just illegal – it's deadly. If you see someone unfit to drive, speak up. Lives depend on it.' Who were the victims? Moreno and six people on board a tour van died in the crash. The van, operated by Ctour Holiday LLC, was on an excursion to Yellowstone National Park at the time of the crash. The driver was licensed in California. Twelve of the occupants held Chinese citizenship and one was from Italy, Idaho State Police said. Those killed were identified as:
CNBC
5 hours ago
- CNBC
Trump pardons drive a big, burgeoning business for lobbyists
Seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump has become big business for lobbying and consulting firms close to the administration, with wealthy hopefuls willing to spend millions of dollars for help getting their case in front of the right people. "From a lobbying perspective, pardons have gotten profitable," said one lobbyist whose firm has received such calls. There's no set rate for pardon help. But two people directly familiar with proposals to lobbying firms said they knew of a client's offer of $5 million to help get a case to Trump. These people, like others, were granted anonymity to speak candidly. And while such high numbers do not seem to be standard, they speak to a burgeoning pardon economy. A $5 million figure is higher than numbers The New York Times reported Trump allies receiving for pardon help in his first term. In 2021, the outlet reported that Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who advised the White House on pardons, was receiving five-figure amounts for the work, according to filings and a client. The Times also reported that John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer convicted of disclosing classified information, was told that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump ally, could help secure him a pardon for $2 million; Giuliani disputed that account. Cozying up to a president's allies or hiring lobbyists to gain access to clemency isn't new. But along with the price spike, what's different now is that Trump is issuing pardons on a rolling basis — rather than most coming at the end of the administration. "It's like the Wild West," a Trump ally and lobbyist said. "You can basically charge whatever you want." The increased use of the pardon power has some familiar with the process concerned about the appearance of financial and political favoritism that can erode confidence in the clemency process. "This is very destructive to our justice system. It delegitimizes the pardon power," said Elizabeth Oyer, who served as pardon attorney for the Department of Justice during President Joe Biden's administration. "It entrenches a two-tier system of justice in which wealth really can be a get-out-of-jail-free card." "All pardon and commutation decisions are solely made by President Trump, who is always willing to give well-deserving Americans a second chance — especially those who have been unfairly targeted by a corrupt justice system," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. Since Trump took office in January, he has pardoned or granted executive clemency to more than 1,500 people, most related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It's a significant uptick from a similar time frame during his first term in office. Even without the Jan. 6 defendants, Trump has pardoned 58 people; in his previous administration, Trump had pardoned just one person in his first year. In the past week alone, Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of 27 people. Many clemency recipients have been people with the means to elevate their case — allies, donors, celebrities and former politicians. There is a process for vetting pardon applications through the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, but presidents have not always followed it. Some of the pardons Trump is granting, involving people currently incarcerated, would not be able to make it through the typical process. Unless the Justice Department grants a waiver, the regulations say that petitioners need to wait until five years after either the conviction or the end of their sentence, and they place a premium on acceptance of responsibility. As of this week, there are 6,394 applications for commutations and 1,529 applications for pardons. Not every Trump-aligned lobbyist is eager to take pardon work; some who have turned down offers said they have passed them along to a small handful of Trump supporters who then help the pardon-seeker get on the president's radar. In some cases, referral fees are paid to the lobbying firms even if they are not directly engaged to do the work, according to three people familiar with the process. "There are others, like us, who have turned down a bunch of that work, but generally the way that works is that they get referred to others who are helping," said a Washington-based lobbyist whose firm has been approached by people seeking a pardon. The person said that roughly half their client inquiries in recent months have been for pardon help. In the past, it was roughly 1 in 50 client solicitations. The Trump ally who is also a lobbyist said their firm is not taking pardon clients out of concern that they could face blowback when the political winds inevitably change. Another lobbyist said they turn down pardon work because it feels "sketchy." In a case that drew significant attention this week, Trump pardoned reality-TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted in 2022 on fraud and tax evasion-related charges. The two built a national following through their reality show "Chrisley Knows Best." The pardons came after a public pressure campaign led by their daughter Savannah, a prominent Trump supporter with nearly 3 million followers on Instagram. Key to reaching Trump is pushing a message that will appeal to the president, particularly one around a politicization of justice by Democrats or overzealous prosecutors. "Weaponization is real," said Tolman, who is now a Fox News contributor and the executive director of the conservative-leaning criminal justice reform group Right on Crime. "If you are in power and you are willing to use the power of the prosecution to go after your political adversaries, how do we fix it?" His comments came during a 2024 panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference focused on the "weaponization" of the justice system. The panel also included now-Attorney General Pam Bondi and Savannah Chrisley, who used the platform to talk about her parents' case. Tolman has become one of the go-tos for help when people are seeking Trump pardons. He helped the Chrisleys, as well as Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. At the end of Trump's first term, he also lobbied Trump to pardon Ross Ulbricht, who in 2015 was sentenced to life in prison on narcotics and money-laundering charges related to his dark web marketplace Silk Road. Getting Ulbricht out of prison became a cause célèbre to many on the political right who thought he was unjustly targeted by the justice system. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to pardon Ulbricht, and he did so as one of his first acts after taking office. Tolman did not respond to a request seeking comment. Other Trump allies who have played influential roles in the pardon process over the past few weeks include Washington attorney Adam Katz, who previously represented Giuliani and helped secure a sentence commutation for a California businesswoman in Trump's first term. Katz did not return a request seeking comment, but lobbyists interviewed by NBC News named him, along with Tolman, as two of the people to whom they refer pardon work. Corcoran Partners, a Florida-based lobbying firm whose managing partner includes Matt Blair, the brother of Trump deputy chief of staff James Blair, has also registered to lobby on federal pardon issues for the first time. In March, Matt Blair's firm registered to lobby on "pardon" issues for Juno Empire Inc., a Miami-based company that is identified in federal lobbying records as a "medical billing advocate." It's not clear what this company does or what its issue is, and there was no contact information available for Juno. Corcoran Partners did not return a request for comment. Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone also registered in February to lobby for Roger Ver, who is nicknamed "Bitcoin Jesus" and, if extradited from Spain, faces up to 109 years in prison for, among other things, allegations that he tried to evade nearly $50 million in tax payments. It's the first time Stone's firm, Drake Ventures, formally registered to lobby on pardon issues, records show. An attorney for Ver did not return a request for comment. Some lawyers also see new hope for their clients in Trump's willingness to issue pardons. Tim Parlatore, a former member of Trump's legal team, represented Adm. Robert Burke, who was convicted in May of bribery. Parlatore told NBC News that he had unsuccessfully attempted to get Justice Department leadership to reconsider the Burke case before it went to trial, and that he'd try to secure a pardon now that Burke has been convicted. "I think I have a great appeal for Burke, but will I go and ask for a pardon? Absolutely! You'd be crazy not to," he said. "The way that that case was investigated and presented, I believe, was fundamentally unfair." Parlatore said he wanted to "pursue all possible remedies" for his client. "I'll go to call people and try to figure this thing out, whether it's Ed Martin, Alice Johnson," he said, referring to Trump's pardon attorney and his more informal "pardon czar." "I just want to make sure that that gets in front of the right people to make a decision." The president's pardon power, a vestige of the British monarchy, is largely unchecked. Trump isn't the first person to face criticism for controversial pardons. But the perception that Trump is leaning into rewarding supporters was boosted last week when Martin, Trump's current pardon attorney, openly signaled the political motivations for the pardon given to Scott Jenkins. The former Virginia sheriff was facing 10 years in prison after a federal jury found him guilty of taking $75,000 in return for doling out law enforcement authority to local businessmen, as well as two undercover FBI special agents. "No MAGA left behind," Martin posted on X after the pardon was announced. One staffer familiar with the pardon process said Martin and the administration were trying to "undo the damage from weaponization," often choosing to pardon people they felt were unfairly targeted. "You have a president who's going to exercise his presidential powers that he has from the Constitution, whether or not there's some guidebook," they said. "He does it on trade, he does it on immigration, and he does it everywhere." That staffer and other Trump allies argue that it was Biden's use of the power that has set the precedent under which they are currently operating. Biden pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 8,000 people, including to his son Hunter, who was set to be sentenced on federal gun charges just weeks before the pardon was issued. On the way out of office, he also issued pre-emptive pardons for some members of his family, worried Trump would try to prosecute them. An administration official called Biden's pardon decisions an "absolutely earth-shattering departure from presidential norms." Trump supporters argue the potential hit to a president's reputation that previously existed for the perception of politicizing the clemency process is no longer there. "It's become easier after Hunter's pardon. Long gone are the days of an eleventh-hour pardon. It has become more transactional," the Trump ally and lobbyist said. Beyond increased payments to lobbying firms to help secure pardons, family members of those seeking pardons have also found it useful to amplify their platform by going on conservative media outlets that Trump is known to watch or appear in MAGA-friendly spaces. Savannah Chrisley, for example, spoke at the Republican National Convention and suggested her parents were targeted for being conservative. During a press conference Friday, she said it was a "misconception" that she "either paid for a pardon or slept for a pardon" for her parents. She said she simply went to Washington and made sure she was in "the right room at the right time" and "begged for meetings." "Many people have come on my OAN program to make their case for pardons," former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who became a news anchor for One America News Network after Trump unsuccessfully tried to install him as attorney general, told NBC News. "Some have not. Some might get granted in the future. I trust President Trump's judgment." Gaetz says he himself has not officially focused on pardon work but said his show, like others, can help amplify a pardon-seeker's case. "I've covered pardons as a journalist," he said. "One way people get on the pardon radar is coming on my show and making their case on other media President Trump is known to watch."
