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Forbes
28-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Trump Making News With More Pardons And Commutations
During his first term, President Donald Trump issued a total of 238 pardons and commutations (143 pardons and 85 commutations). Like presidents before him, the majority of those receiving commutations had served a significant part of their prison term while most all of those pardoned had completed their sentence years ago. In fact, most executive orders for commutations come in the final days of the administration, not at the beginning. In terms of raw numbers, Trump's 238 clemency actions in his first term rank lower compared to other recent presidents, particularly Barack Obama. However, his total number of pardons was higher than those of Bush and Clinton in their respective first terms. In terms of total clemency actions, Trump's record is relatively modest compared to some of his predecessors. Here's a rough comparison: In March 2025, President Donald Trump dismissed Liz Oyer, the head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney. Oyer had held the position since 2022, overseeing the review of federal clemency requests and advising the president on potential pardons. Following Oyer's departure, Ed Martin Jr., a former interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, was appointed as the new pardon attorney. Martin has indicated plans to scrutinize pardons issued by the previous administration, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability in the clemency process. Now, Trump has turned his attention to granting commutations and pardons to high profile prisoners. He is even issuing pardons to those convicted but have not even started their prison sentence, something extremely rare. On January 20, 2025, Trump issued a sweeping series of pardons and commutations for individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. This action was one of his first acts upon returning to the White House. In addition to granting pardons, President Trump directed the Department of Justice to seek the dismissal of all pending cases related to the Capitol riot. Since then, he has started to look at individual cases that he believes represent overreach by both the US Attorney's Offices and federal judges. On May 27, Trump announced that he would grant full pardons to reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who had been convicted in 2022 on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud. The Chrisleys were sentenced to 12 and 7 years in federal prison, respectively, and began serving their sentences in January 2023. Julie won an appeal for a resentencing but U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross sentenced her again to 7 years, then ending her chance at freedom. Their convictions stemmed from allegations that they used false documents to secure over $30 million in loans, which they used to fund a lavish lifestyle. Last week, Trump issued a pardon to a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted on fraud and bribery charges and had yet to even enter prison. Jenkins, a long-time supporter of Trump, was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison. "Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social network. The New York Times has reported that individuals are lining up contacts in Trump's inner-circle to lobby for them. Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer stated in an interview on NBC News that Trump's actions on pardons are troubling. 'Granting pardons to people in this manner threatens to upend ongoing prosecutions by the Department of Justice. It also threatens to delegitimize the prosecutorial institutions that we have historically relied on.' There is no shortage of people to pardon and Trump will most certainly consider more in the future including that of his long time confidant Steve Bannon and Trump's current adviser on economic issues Peter Navarro. Both Navarro and Bannon completed their prison terms last year. With Trump's newly found penchant for crypto currency, he could look to pardon someone like FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried. There are also big names in politics like former congressman George Santos and former senator Robert Menendez who are both heading to prison soon. In business he could look to someone like Elizabeth Holmes to make a statement about aggressive prosecutions as she serves over 11 years in prison. Others have speculated that with a former convicted felon pardoned by Trump during his first term and now activist, Alice Johnson, as Pardon Czar, that the pardons will keep on coming. Trump seems to be using his executive powers to reshape prosecutions brought by US Attorneys and sentences handed down by federal judges. Trump has wasted no time in calling out prosecutors and judges appointed by Joe Biden. Some are thinking that Trump, keen to do govern by executive order, has found that pardons can set the agenda for a Department of Justice and judiciary that he wants.
CBS News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
US Justice Department pardon lawyer pledges 'hard look' at plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
The U.S. Justice Department's new pardon attorney said he is going to take a "hard look" at two men who are serving long prison terms for leading a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. "On the pardon front, we can't leave these guys behind," Ed Martin Jr. said this week on "The Breanna Morello Show." "In my opinion, these are victims just like January 6," Martin said, referring to 1,500 people pardoned by President Donald Trump for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The arrests of Barry Croft Jr., Adam Fox and other anti-government extremists rocked the home stretch of the 2020 presidential election. Authorities said the cabal wanted to grab Whitmer, a Democrat, at her vacation home and start a civil war. Croft, 49, and Fox, 42, were portrayed as leaders of the scheme. They were convicted of conspiracy in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in August 2022. Croft, a trucker from Delaware, was also found guilty of a weapons charge. Croft was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison, while Fox, a Grand Rapids man, got a 16-year term. They are being held at a prison in Colorado — the most secure in the federal system. An appeals court in April affirmed the convictions of both men after their lawyers argued that their right to pursue a vigorous entrapment defense was greatly diminished by the rulings of a trial judge in western Michigan, among other claims. Whitmer was never physically harmed. Martin called it a "fed-napping" plot, not a kidnapping plot, apparently referring to the numerous undercover FBI agents and informants who had infiltrated the group and built the case. He said it looked like the "weaponization of government." "I have complete confidence that we're going to get a hard look at it. The president will want to know the facts about it," Martin said, pledging to "get on it as quick as I can, I promise." An email sent by the Associated Press seeking comment from Whitmer's office wasn't immediately returned Friday. In 2020, she blamed Trump for stoking mistrust and fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists. Later, when he was out of office, Trump cast doubt on the kidnapping scheme, calling it a "fake deal." Federal and state authorities in 2020 charged 13 people, including Croft and Fox, in connection with separate plots to kidnap Whitmer over pandemic restrictions she imposed in the state. Note: The above video first aired on Aug. 23, 2022. contributed to this report.
Washington Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump's new pardon attorney says he will scrutinize pardons that Biden issued at the end of his term
WASHINGTON — Ed Martin Jr., who will be the Justice Department's new pardon attorney after President Donald Trump pulled his nomination to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, said Tuesday that he plans to scrutinize pardons that former President Joe Biden issued on his way out of the White House.
Associated Press
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Trump's new pardon attorney says he will scrutinize pardons that Biden issued at the end of his term
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ed Martin Jr., who will be the Justice Department's new pardon attorney after President Donald Trump pulled his nomination to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, said Tuesday that he plans to scrutinize pardons that former President Joe Biden issued on his way out of the White House. 'These are big moments, and so they have to be able to withstand scrutiny,' Martin told reporters on Tuesday, his last full day as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses in January on his last day in office. He also pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. None of them had been charged with any crime. The pardons were designed to guard against possible retribution by President Donald Trump. Trump pulled Martin's nomination last week amid bipartisan opposition and replaced him with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who is expected to be sworn into office on Wednesday. Instead, Martin will serve as an associate deputy attorney general and pardon attorney. In his new role, Martin also will be director of the 'weaponization working group' at the Justice Department. Attorney General Pam Bondi called for creating that group in February to investigate the work of former special counsel Jack Smith, who led two federal prosecutions of Trump that were ultimately abandoned, and other examples of what Republicans claim to be unfair targeting of conservatives during Biden's administration. In announcing his last-minute pardons, Biden said his family had been 'subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics.' 'Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,' he said on the day of Trump's second inauguration. Martin told reporters that he believes Biden's pardons 'need some scrutiny.' 'They need scrutiny because we want pardons to matter and to be accepted and to be something that's used correctly. So I do think we're going to take a hard look at how they went and what they did,' he said. The Constitution grants broad pardon powers to presidents and their clemency actions cannot be undone by courts or other officials. It's not clear what action, if any, Martin believes he would be able to take regarding Biden's pardons. Martin said the U.S. Attorney's office under his leadership already had been 'taking a look at some of the conduct surrounding the pardons and the Biden White House.' Trump also has used the president's sweeping pardon powers to benefit those close to him. In his final weeks of his first term, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. On the first day of his second term, Trump pardoned nearly all of the 1,500 people charged with crimes in the Capitol riot, freeing from prison dozens of people convicted of assaulting police. Trump appointed Martin as acting U.S. Attorney during his first week back in the White House. Martin oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Capitol riot cases after Trump's Jan. 6 pardons. But his hopes of keeping the job faded amid questions about his lack of prosecutorial experience and his divisive politics. Trump yanked Martin's nomination two days after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of Capitol rioters. 'Ultimately, the president decided we didn't want to keep going forward,' Martin said. 'The president of the United States said we have other battles to do, and so I'm excited about that.' ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
