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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's who Trump pardoned this week
President Donald Trump has issued a number of high-profile pardons in recent days, garnering criticism from Democrats and centrist Republicans — but not from Trump's allies. About one of these pardons, Trump pardon attorney Ed Martin recently posted to X: 'No MAGA left behind.' Here's a list of Trump's acts of clemency from the last week. On Tuesday, Trump announced his intentions to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, both of whom were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. Savannah Chrisley, their daughter, is an ally to the Trump family, having filmed an episode of 'My View with Lara Trump' earlier this year and speaking at the Republican National Convention last summer, per Axios. Former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who is Republican, resigned several years ago after pleading guilty to conspiracy. He had also been accused of accepting bribes and facilitating grift. 'I am very humbled and deeply appreciative,' Rowland said in a statement to WTNH. 'This is a wonderful final resolution.' Former Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., was convicted in 2014 of tax fraud. Prosecutors also alleged that he threatened a reporter who questioned him about his case, per CBS News. Grimm is a former Marine and FBI agent. He served about six months in prison, then unsuccessfully tried to return to politics, losing several campaigns in the primary stage. In September 2024, Grimm was paralyzed from the chest down after a horse threw him during a polo tournament. Grimm now works at Newsmax, a right-wing television network, from which position he enthusiastically supports Trump. Longtime Trump supporter Scott Jenkins was convicted of fraud and bribery in December 2024. Trump pardoned him just before he was set to report to jail on Tuesday. 'Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL,' Trump posted to Truth Social, accusing Biden and 'Radical Left monsters' of leaving Jenkins 'for dead.' Trump said that Jenkins had tried to offer evidence defending himself — Jenkins was accused of taking bribes from eight people who wished to avoid traffic tickets and carry firearms without permits — but that the judge had 'shut him down ... then went on a tirade.' It was about this pardon that Martin wrote: 'No MAGA left behind.' Trump also commuted the life sentence of Larry Hoover, a convicted murderer and gang leader. Hoover's convictions occurred decades ago and he has since renounced his gang ties, according to the BBC. After news of Trump's commutation broke online, Hoover's lawyer Justin Moore stated: 'We got Larry Hoover out of federal prison — when many said it was impossible. … Illinois must send him home for good.' NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, saw his Utah conviction pardoned. Gaulden, now 25, was initially sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge in Utah in December to nearly two years in prison and five years of probation over firearms charges. Gaulden was credited for time spent in jail for an arrest related to a prescription fraud ring in April 2024. Gaulden also pleaded no contest to two counts of identity fraud, two counts of forgery and six counts of unlawful pharmacy conduct. Pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson told Fox News they considered Gaulden's upbringing in an impoverished neighborhood before issuing the pardon, as well as the circumstances surrounding the firearms charges. 'I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and for giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist," Gaulden wrote on his Instagram. 'This moment means a lot.' At the end of April, Trump pardoned Paul Walczak, a former nursing home executive whose tax crimes left him owing over $4 million to the federal government. Walczak was convicted of depriving his employees of tens of millions of dollars, using those funds instead to buy jewelry, trips and a $2 million yacht. His pardon followed $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner that Trump held at Mar-a-Lago. Elizabeth Fago, Walczak's mother, was in attendance, per The New York Times. She has donated millions to the GOP. This is not an exhaustive list of Trump's second-term pardons. It is not unusual for presidents to issue pardons or to commute sentences, especially to people who have committed nonviolent offenses. And clemency requests have skyrocketed in the modern era, with every president since George W. Bush receiving tens of thousands of requests. G.W. Bush granted only 189 pardons. President Bill Clinton, his predecessor, granted 396, while President Barack Obama, his successor, granted 212. During President Donald Trump's first term he granted 144 pardons. Former President Joe Biden granted just 80 pardons, but his were 'historically unique,' per Pew Research Center. He issued 'preemptive pardons' to prominent figures that he believed Trump might pursue charges against, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and some of his family members, including his son Hunter Biden. Trump began his second term by pardoning or commuting the sentences of over 1,200 white nationalists and other MAGA loyalists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Wakala News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Wakala News
Trump's pardons this term include these convicted fraudsters and supporters
Washington — President Trump this week has issued pardons and commutations for several convicted fraudsters, the latest in a series of pardons for white-collar criminals in his second term, claiming in many cases that they were unfairly targeted for being his supporters. Here are some of the people Mr. Trump has used his clemency power on: Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley Mr. Trump said on May 27 that he would pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were imprisoned after being sentenced in 2022 on bank fraud and tax evasion charges. The couple, who starred on 'Chrisley Knows Best,' submitted false financial statements to obtain more than $30 million in personal loans, which they spent on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel, the Justice Department said. The couple also concealed their income from the IRS to avoid paying nearly $500,000 in delinquent taxes, while also failing to file tax returns and pay taxes from 2013 through 2016. The couple pleaded not guilty. In a video posted by a White House aide, Mr. Trump can be heard speaking with the Chrisleys' children, saying 'your parents are going to be free and clean. I hope we can do it by tomorrow.' The couple's daughter, Savannah, had been seeking a pardon for her parents, and has compared their case to the president's legal troubles. Michael Grimm The White House said on May 28 that Mr. Trump had pardoned former Rep. Michael Grimm of New York, who had pleaded guilty in 2014 to tax fraud and related charges. Prosecutors alleged he underreported wages and revenue to the government, and that he filed false tax documents at a restaurant he owned before serving in Congress. Despite the indictment, Grimm was reelected in 2014, although he pleaded guilty one month later and resigned in January 2015. He served eight months in prison. Grimm attempted a comeback run in 2018, but lost the GOP primary for his Staten Island and southern Brooklyn district. Grimm last year was paralyzed from the chest down after being thrown from a horse while playing polo. Former Virginia sheriff Scott Jenkins On May 26, the president said he was pardoning a former Virginia sheriff, Scott Jenkins, who was sentenced to prison in March on fraud and bribery charges. Jenkins took $75,000 worth of bribes, federal prosecutors said, giving badges to eight untrained and unvetted individuals from whom he had allegedly accepted cash and campaign contributions. Jenkins pleaded not guilty, and denied any connection between taking payments and issuing badges at trial. Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Jenkins, a longstanding supporter of the president's, 'is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn't deserve to spend a single day in jail.' 'He is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left 'monsters,' and 'left for dead,'' Mr. Trump added. Ex-Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, was convicted in 2018 for his connection to a scheme to fraudulently issue more than $60 million of tribal bonds to the business arm of a South Dakota-based Native American tribe. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Archer — who pleaded not guilty — appealed his case, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 2024 refused to hear his attempt to overturn his conviction. As Mr. Trump prepared to sign the pardon, Trump staff secretary Will Scharf said 'the tone and tenor' of the case against Archer 'changed dramatically after he began to cooperate with congressional investigators and serve as a witness against Hunter Biden and the Biden family.' 'Many people have asked me to do this,' Mr. Trump said before signing the pardon. 'I think he was treated very unfairly. And I looked at the record, studied the records, and he was. He was a victim of a crime, as far as I'm concerned. So we're going to undo that.' Hunter Biden associate Jason Galanis Jason Galanis was sentenced in 2020 to over a decade of prison time for his alleged involvement in several fraud schemes, including the same one as Archer involving Native American tribal bonds. Mr. Trump commuted his sentence to time served. Galanis pleaded guilty. Like Archer, Galanis testified in a House GOP-led investigation into Hunter Biden, describing himself as a former business partner of the then-president's son. Galanis said he, Biden and Archer hoped to make 'billions,' including by trading on Hunter Biden's family name. The younger Biden called Galanis a liar, and told House investigators he could only recall meeting Galanis '10 years ago for 30 minutes.' Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich received a full pardon from Mr. Trump in February, after the president had commuted his sentence at the end of his first term, in February 2020. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in December 2011 on 18 corruption charges, among them, an attempt to sell Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat after he won the White House in 2008. Blagojevich and Mr. Trump have known each other for decades. Long before he ran for president, Mr. Trump donated to the former Illinois governor's campaigns, and Blagojevich at one point was also a contestant on NBC's 'Celebrity Apprentice' in March and April 2010, while he was fighting the corruption charges. He was 'fired' by Mr. Trump after about four weeks on the show. Trump even asked the other contestants, 'Who thinks Rod is guilty?' Blagojevich pleaded not guilty and has long insisted he is innocent. Nevada state lawmaker Michelle Fiore Mr. Trump also pardoned Michelle Fiore, a former city councilwoman and Nevada state lawmaker, in April. Fiore was accused of using money meant for a statue honoring police officers killed in the line of duty for her own personal expenses and was found guilty in October on wire fraud charges. She pleaded not guilty to the charges. Former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey In March, the president pardoned former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, shortly after he had begun serving jail time for a campaign finance scheme. The Republican had pleaded guilty in 2022 to charges concerning his attempt to funnel campaign money from his state seat to a federal race for Congress, before trying to reverse the plea. 'God used Donald Trump to save me from the weaponized Biden DOJ,' Kelsey said in a post on X. Electric truck entrepreneur Trevor Milton Earlier this year, Mr. Trump pardoned Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who was convicted of securities fraud and wire fraud for lying to investors in his electric truck company. Prosecutors allege Milton boosted the company's share price by heavily exaggerating its successes, including by falsely claiming Nikola had built a 'fully functioning' prototype of an electric truck and posting misleading videos that made it look like the prototype could drive under its own power. He was charged in 2021, a year after some of the allegations were first raised by short-selling firm Hindenburg Research. Milton — who denied wrongdoing — was sentenced to four years in prison. But the president pardoned him in March, claiming he was targeted for being a Trump supporter. Milton had donated hundreds of thousands to a pro-Trump group in 2024. Ozy founder Carlos Watson The president commuted the prison sentence of Carlos Watson, who founded the digital media company Ozy, and was sentenced to almost a decade in prison for conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. Watson and his coworkers allegedly raised millions from investors by misrepresenting Ozy's finances. At one point, an Ozy employee allegedly impersonated a YouTube executive on a call with Goldman Sachs, aiming to convince the bank to invest in Ozy by talking up the success of its YouTube channel — an infamous story documented in a New York Times column. Mr. Trump commuted Watson's sentence to time served, shortly before he reported to prison. Watson pleaded not guilty, and maintained his innocence at trial. Paul Walczak In April, Mr. Trump pardoned Paul Walczak, who had been sentenced earlier that month to 18 months in prison for failing to pay over $10 million in taxes related to nursing homes he controlled. According to the Justice Department, Walczak — who pleaded guilty — was 'not compliant with his tax obligations and instead used the withheld taxes to enrich himself.' White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement that Walczak is an 'entrepreneur targeted by the Biden administration over his family's conservative politics.' Walczak's mother, Elizabeth Fago, is a donor to Mr. Trump and visited the White House at least twice in Mr. Trump's first term. According to The New York Times, Fago attended a $1 million a plate fundraiser for Mr. Trump shortly before Walczak was pardoned. Jeremy Hutchinson Mr. Trump pardoned former Arkansas state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, who had been convicted on bribery and tax charges, on May 29. Hutchinson — the nephew of former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — pleaded guilty in two different bribery cases in 2019, acknowledging in court papers that he took payments from an orthodontic specialist and a healthcare charity and used his position as a lawmaker to back their interests. He also pleaded guilty to tax charges, Hutchinson was sentenced to a total of eight years in prison. Other cases dropped Outside of clemency, the Trump administration has moved to drop charges against a handful of others in recent months. The Justice Department moved to toss out charges against Republican former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who had been convicted of lying to the FBI. And in February, the Justice Department told federal prosecutors in New York to drop their corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump's clemency spree extends to ex-gangster, artist, former congressmen
Since reclaiming the White House, Trump has deployed pardons in a wide-reaching campaign to recalibrate a justice system he calls corrupt and says politically persecuted him. Some of those pardoned were convicted of crimes similar to charges brought against him or his family business. Others repeatedly flexed their loyalty to his administration in public, hoping to stand out among the thousands of petitioners vying for his attention. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Trump pardoned a former US Army officer found guilty of refusing to follow coronavirus safety measures, a couple who admitted to knowingly employing a felon at their insurance company, and a popular hip-hop artist, NBA YoungBoy, who was convicted of gun charges, in addition to commuting the sentence of former Gangster Disciples leader Larry Hoover. Advertisement The pardons of former congressmen Michael Grimm of New York and John Rowland of Connecticut, who became the state's governor, brought the number of former Republican members of Congress Trump has pardoned while in office to nine. During his first term, Trump also commuted sentences of former Democratic elected officials, including ex-Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who was found guilty of trying to sell a US Senate seat, and the ex-mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick, who was sentenced to 28 years in prison for crimes including fraud and racketeering. He granted Blagojevich a full pardon in February. Advertisement Grimm, who served seven months in prison for tax fraud and was released in 2016, gained national attention after being caught on camera threatening a reporter who asked about the federal investigation, saying, 'I'll break you in half. Like a boy.' He has expressed steady public support for the Trump administration in posts to social media, including one of himself in August beside a horse wearing a 'Trump 2024' hat. Neither Grimm nor his attorney responded to requests for comment. Rowland, who served as Connecticut's governor from 1995 to 2004, was twice convicted on corruption-related charges: once for accepting illegal gifts and improvements to his private home from state contractors while he was governor, and then for violating campaign finance laws. 'I am very humbled and deeply appreciative,' Rowland said in a statement to Eyewitness News on Wednesday. 'I have been blessed with a wonderful family and friends that have been through a great deal over the years. This is a wonderful final resolution.' Hoover, whose clemency was first reported by Notus, was convicted in 1997 of conspiracy, extortion, money laundering, and running Chicago's Gangster Disciples — the culmination of a 17-year investigation into the criminal organization. At that time, he was already serving a 200-year sentence for killing a neighborhood drug dealer. Advertisement He later renounced the gang and requested a shorter sentence under the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice bill passed during Trump's first term. In a celebratory post to X, a lawyer for Hoover, Justin Moore, called on the state of Illinois to drop Hoover's murder charges, which would keep him behind bars despite the president's commutation. NBA YoungBoy, whose name is Kentrell Gaulden, was involved in a still-unresolved shootout outside the Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., in 2019 that left a man dead. His Louisiana attorney told the Miami Herald that the rapper — who offered to pay for the slain man's funeral — was the target of an assassination attempt. Earlier this week, Trump announced that he planned to pardon reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were found guilty of fraud and tax evasion, and a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted of taking cash bribes in exchange for appointing deputy sheriffs without training or vetting. He signed the Chrisleys' legal documents Wednesday. The Chrisleys' daughter was a speaker at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where she said Democrats 'consistently punish their enemies' and praised Trump as the man best equipped to expose what she called their corruption. Addressing reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said he is considering additional pardons for the men convicted in the kidnapping plot against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. 'I will take a look at it. It's been brought to my attention,' Trump said. 'I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job.' Among his first officials acts as president was to pardon virtually all of the nearly 1,600 defendants convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters and to commute the sentences of the remaining 14. Weeks earlier, former President Joe Biden had issued preemptive pardons to his siblings and their spouses, saying he feared they would be targeted for political reasons by the new administration. Advertisement Biden also issued unprecedented preemptive pardons for others he said needed protection: retired General Mark A. Milley, a vocal critic of Trump; Anthony S. Fauci, who spearheaded the country's pandemic response; members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack; and police officers who testified before the committee. This week's clemency spree landed as Ed Martin, a staunch defender of Jan. 6 defendants who fell short as Trump's pick to lead the U.S. attorney's office in D.C., which oversaw those prosecutions, was ceremonially sworn in as the Justice Department's pardons attorney. 'Freedom for Captives!' he wrote on X.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump finds more convicted congressional Republicans to reward with pardons
It's been a challenge keeping up with the flurry of pardons Donald Trump has issued in recent days, specifically rewarding his political allies and donors, though one trend is increasingly unavoidable: The incumbent president has a real soft spot for congressional Republicans who've been convicted of felonies. Take former Republican Rep. Michael Grimm of New York, for example. NBC News reported: Trump this afternoon pardoned former Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., who was convicted in 2014 of tax fraud and related charges. Grimm pleaded guilty to a single count of tax fraud after he was accused in a 20-count indictment of underreporting nearly $1 million in earnings and lowering payroll taxes through 'off-the-book' payments at a Manhattan restaurant he previously managed. After the conviction, Grimm resigned from Congress and was sentenced to eight months of incarceration. He was released in 2016, according to Spectrum News. Grimm had a brief and unfortunate career on Capitol Hill, punctuated by an incident in which he threatened physical violence against a reporter, vowing to break him 'like a boy' after the journalist had the audacity to ask the lawmaker about the criminal investigations pending against him at the time. There was also a memorable incident in 2021 when Grimm, who ran on an anti-Affordable Care Act platform, was asked whether he would forgo the taxpayer-financed coverage he hoped to deny others. The Republican responded, 'What am I, not supposed to have health care?' Two weeks later, Grimm voted to repeal the ACA and deny coverage to millions. But it was Grimm's crimes that derailed his career. Though he initially claimed he was the victim of a 'political witch hunt' — a familiar phrase, to be sure — the New Yorker ultimately agreed to plead guilty to a felony count of tax fraud. Though Grimm tried to remain in Congress anyway, GOP leaders pressed him to resign. He succumbed to party pressure soon after. More than a decade later, Grimm, who was seriously injured in a polo tournament last year, is the beneficiary of a presidential pardon. It coincided with Trump also pardoning former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland — who served three terms as a Republican member of Congress — whose record is even more controversial. As The New York Times reported, Rowland was forced to resign in 2004 to avoid impeachment stemming from a corruption scandal. The Times added, 'He pleaded guilty later that year and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Ten years later, Mr. Rowland was convicted again of public corruption, including obstructing justice, conspiracy, falsifying documents relied on by federal regulators and other violations of campaign finance laws.' There's nothing to suggest there was anything wrong with his prosecution, but Trump pardoned him anyway. If at this point readers are thinking that the president has pardoned several former GOP members of Congress, there's ample evidence to bolster the point. The Washington Post published this memorable roundup on the last day of Trump's first term: Since Trump took office, two incumbent Republican congressmen have been convicted of crimes, Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.), as has a former congressman, Steve Stockman (R-Tex.). Trump pardoned all three of them. Trump also pardoned four former Republican congressmen convicted before his presidency: Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), Mark Siljander (R-Mich.) and Randall 'Duke' Cunningham (R-Calif.). ... [A]ccording to GovTrack's Legislator Misconduct Database, Trump has now pardoned a majority of Republican congressmen convicted of felonies in the 21st century. With the Grimm and Rowland pardons, the new total of Trump pardons for congressional Republicans convicted of crimes has reached nine — and counting. (While some congressional Democrats have also been convicted of crimes in recent years, to date, none of them has benefited from the incumbent president's magnanimity.) What's more, if we widen the aperture a bit, it's also worth emphasizing that the Trump administration has also abandoned the criminal case against a former Republican congressman who'd already been found guilty of corruption by a jury, while simultaneously taking steps to abandon a corruption investigation targeting an incumbent Republican congressman. The message to Republican politicians convicted or accused of corruption couldn't be clearer: You have a friend in the Oval Office. This post updates our related earlier coverage. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump pardons former Republican politicians Grimm, Rowland
May 29 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued several more pardons, including those for his political allies: former U.S. House member Michael Grimm of New York and ex-Connecticut Gov. John Rowland. Trump has largely circumvented the process run through the Department of Justice. Trump's new pardon attorney Ed Martin last week reviewed commutation applications for the president to consider, a source told CNN. A pardon ends the legal consequences of a criminal conviction and a commutation reduces the sentence. Grimm, a member of the U.S. House from 2011-2015, served seven months in prison after being convicted of tax evasion in 2014. He attempted to win back his House seat in 2018 but lost in the Republican primary. Grimm, 55, who worked for Newsmax from 2022-2024, was paralyzed in a fall from a horse during a polo competition last year. After the State of the Union in 2014, Grimm threatened to break a reporter in half "like a boy" when questioned about his campaign finances. He also threatened to throw the reporter off a balcony at the Capitol. Rowland, a Republican governor in Connecticut from 1996-2004, was convicted twice in federal criminal cases. He resigned as governor after the first offense of election fraud and obstruction of justice. Then, he was sentenced to a 30-month prison term in 2015 for his illegal involvement in two congressional campaigns. Also pardoned was another Republican, Jeremy Hutchinson, a former Arkansas state senator, who was sentenced to 46 months in prison for accepting election bribes and tax fraud in 2014. Hutchinson is the son of former Sen. Tim Hutchinson and nephew of former Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Imaad Zuberi, who donated $900,000 to Trump's first inaugural committee and was also a donor on fundraising committees for Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, had his sentence commuted on Wednesday. In 2021, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for falsifying records to conceal work as a foreign agent while lobbying high-level U.S. government officials and obstructing a federal investigation of the inaugural fund. Trump also Wednesday commuted the sentences of eight others, a White House official said. Larry Hoover, the co-founder of Chicago's Gangster Disciples street gang, was serving six life prison sentences in the federal supermax facility in Florence, Colo., after a 1997 conviction. He ran a criminal enterprise from jail. Hoover, who is now 74, had been seeking a commutation under the First Step Act, which Trump signed into law in 2018. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber denied Hoover's request, calling him "one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history." But he won't get out of a prison yet because he is also serving a sentence of up to 200 years on Illinois state murder charges. Trump can't give clemency to those convicted on state charges. An entertainer and a former athlete were also pardoned. Rapper Kentrell Gaulden, who goes by NBA YoungBoy, was convicted in a federal gun crimes case last year. He was released from prison and won't need to serve probation. Charles "Duke" Tanner, a former professional boxer, was sentenced to life in prison for drug conspiracy in 2006. Trump commuted his sentence during his first term.
