Latest news with #MichaelGrimm
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Key House Democrat presses for more details on Trump's pardons, alleging "favors" to supporters
The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is pressing the new U.S. pardon attorney for more details about President Trump's recent pardons, claiming the traditional system of applying for clemency has been replaced with "favors to the President's loyal followers and most generous donors." In a letter to newly appointed pardon attorney Ed Martin, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland asked Martin to "explain the criteria and process" he and his office have used to vet recent pardons by Mr. Trump. Dozens of people were pardoned this week, including a number of convicted fraudsters, adding to a series of pardons for convicted white-collar criminals in his second term. In some cases, the administration has said pardon recipients were unfairly targeted for being Trump supporters. This week's pardon recipients include reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, convicted on bank fraud and tax evasion charges; former Rep. Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud and related charges; and former Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, convicted on fraud and bribery charges. Trump also commuted the sentence of one of Chicago's most infamous gangsters and a rapper convicted of felony gun charges. Some pardon recipients this term — and their family members — have expressed support for Mr. Trump. Electric truck entrepreneur Trevor Milton, who was pardoned on securities fraud charges, donated hundreds of thousands to a pro-Trump committee last year. And the mother of Paul Walczak, who was pardoned last month on tax charges, has helped raise money for Mr. Trump and recently attended a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser, The New York Times reported. Raskin wrote in his letter that "it at least appears that you are using the Office of the Pardon Attorney to dole out pardons as favors to the President's loyal political followers and most generous donors, completely ignoring and abandoning the thousands of individual applications for clemency in the normal process." Typically, pardon applications are submitted by those seeking reprieve to the U.S. pardon attorney's office for a review on the merits of their case. Pardon decisions are ultimately up to the president, but in the past, the Justice Department has said it weighs whether an applicant has taken responsibility for their actions and waited at least five years since their conviction or release from prison, among other factors. "None of the cases you have recommended to date appears to have satisfied these standards. Instead, it appears the Administration has abruptly changed the criteria for granting presidential pardons and commutations," Raskin continued. "The new criteria for granting pardons appear to be: showing absolute personal and political loyalty to President Trump; giving substantial financial contributions to MAGA and the President's political network; and engaging in forms of political corruption and violence that promote MAGA power and authoritarianism," the lawmaker said. When asked about Raskin's letter, a Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News, "I assume Raskin must have also sent a letter to Biden's family after receiving blanket pardons?" The spokesperson also included a snippet from a CNN interview with Raskin in which he declined to specify whether he supports former President Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter. The president's power to pardon people for federal crimes — granted by the Constitution — is virtually limitless. Mr. Trump has used his pardoning power extensively in this term, drawing criticism for giving out pardons to virtually all those convicted of crimes during the Jan. 6 riot. In addition to the pardons already finalized, Mr. Trump said he would "take a look at" pardoning a group of men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer when pressed by reporters this week. Martin has discussed pardon applications for some of the only remaining Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendants who weren't given full clemency by Mr. Trump, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. Mr. Trump moved Martin to the Justice Department as associate deputy attorney general and pardon attorney after he failed to gain enough support in the Senate needed for confirmation as U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. The key role of pardon attorney typically advises the president on how to use his clemency power. The president said Martin will also serve as director of the Justice Department's "Weaponization Working Group," a committee formed by Attorney General Pam Bondi to "review" the department's Biden-era activities, including its investigations into Mr. Trump, Capitol rioters and others. In a post on X this week, Martin wrote "No MAGA left behind" about the ongoing slate of pardons.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Trump commutes gang leader's sentence in flurry of pardons
As part of a spree of clemency actions, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the federal prison sentence of Larry Hoover, the founder of a notorious Chicago street was the leader of the Gangster Disciples and in the 1990s was given six life sentences on conspiracy, extortion, drug and other criminal addition to his federal sentence, Hoover still faces a 200-year jail term in the state of Illinois for murder, and is unlikely to be released soon. A president is unable to commute state-level Wednesday the president also granted a pardon to several other convicts, including Michael Grimm, a former New York City congressman. He served seven months in prison after pleading guilty to felony tax well and Hoover and Grimm, eight others have been pardoned by the president in recent days. Department of Justice (DoJ) records indicate that during his second term Trump has pardoned more than 40 people, in addition to almost 1,600 pardons doled out to people charged or convicted in connection with the 6 January 2021 US Capitol is a presidential pardon?Hoover, 74, built the Gangster Disciples into a nationwide street gang from its origins on Chicago's South Side in the 1973 he was convicted of ordering the execution of a rival drug dealer. Authorities allege that he continued to lead his gang from the 1990s he formed a political organisation and claimed that he had transformed the Gangster Disciples into a community-service organisation called Growth and he was found guilty of a long list of federal charges in recent years he has advocated for criminal justice reform including the First Step Act, which Trump signed into law in 2018. Among other things, the law allows for reduced sentences for inmates who participate in programmes aimed at reducing has continued to publicly disavow gang life."I am no longer a member, leader, or even an elder statesman of the Gangster Disciples," Hoover wrote in a letter to a court in 2022. "I want nothing to do with it now and forever."However, the authorities have taken a different view, and prosecutors alleged in 2021 that he was still involved in promoting Gangster Disciples members while locked up in prison. They have argued that he is still effectively the leader of the a hearing last year, a judge asked one of Hoover's lawyers: "How many other murders is he responsible for?"After news broke of the commutation of his federal sentence, Hoover's lawyer Justin Moore posted online: "We got Larry Hoover out of federal prison - when many said it was impossible… Illinois must send him home for good." Pardons for rapper and former politicians Grimm, the former congressman, pleaded guilty to underreporting income from a restaurant that he addition, Trump issued pardons on Wednesday for:Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland, who was convicted on election fraud charges and sentenced to two and a half years in prison in 2015Kentrell Gaulden, a rapper known as NBA YoungBoy, who has faced numerous drugs, weapons and fraud chargesConvicted fraudster Kevin Eric BaisdenMark Bashaw, an army officer who was convicted in a court martial of violating Covid protection rulesTanner Mansell and John Moore, who were convicted of theft at sea when they released sharks they thought were being illegally fished. It turned out the sharks were being legally caught for research purposesOn Tuesday, Trump also pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, two reality TV stars who were convicted of tax evasion and defrauding on Wednesday, Trump said he would "take a look at" pardoning a group of men charged with planning to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020."I did watch the trial," he said. "It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job… It looked to me like some people said some stupid things."
CNN
5 days ago
- General
- CNN
Trump Pardons Former Congressman Michael Grimm - The Lead with Jake Tapper - Podcast on CNN Audio
Trump Pardons Former Congressman Michael Grimm The Lead with Jake Tapper 86 mins Between pardons from prison to government jobs, President Trump extends a pattern of favor to folks who have long pledged their loyalty and today Trump says he is considering yet another favor. Plus, President Trump's timeline to see if Vladimir Putin is serious about peace.
New York Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Pardons Former N.Y. Representative Who Pleaded Guilty to Tax Fraud
President Trump on Wednesday pardoned Michael G. Grimm, a former New York representative who pleaded guilty in 2014 to felony tax evasion, according to a White House official. Mr. Grimm, a Republican, represented Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in the House of Representatives from 2011 until he resigned in 2015. On Wednesday, a White House spokesman compared Mr. Grimm's prosecution to the president's own legal troubles, which Mr. Trump has long derided as a witch hunt. 'President Trump knows firsthand the impact of a weaponized justice system,' said the spokesman, Harrison Fields. He said the president was 'using his constitutional authority to right the wrongs of Americans who've been impacted by this corrupt system.' Mr. Grimm was indicted in 2014 after he failed to report nearly $1 million in gross receipts and hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee wages from a Manhattan restaurant he had owned, prosecutors said. After pleading guilty to one felony charge of tax fraud, he was sentenced to eight months in prison, serving seven. Reporting by The New York Times indicated that Mr. Grimm also engaged in a range of other potential crimes, including campaign finance and other possible fraud. He was not charged in connection with any of that activity. In recent years, he has worked as an on-air personality at the right-wing television network Newsmax, and has been an enthusiastic public supporter of Mr. Trump's. But he has been off the air since a horseback riding accident at a polo tournament last September that left him paralyzed. In a statement posted online earlier this month, he said he had been in a physical therapy rehabilitation center and that he hoped to be released at the end of May and return to his job at Newsmax. Mr. Grimm did not respond to a message seeking comment on Wednesday. After his release from prison, Mr. Grimm tried to mount a political comeback on Staten Island, which has for years been a reliably Republican district in New York City. Mr. Grimm ran in a Republican congressional primary in 2018 to retake his old seat, but Mr. Trump endorsed his opponent, Representative Dan Donovan, and his comeback attempt fell short. During that campaign, Mr. Grimm argued that his prosecution — which began as a campaign finance inquiry but evolved into a 20-count indictment related to his former management of a restaurant called Healthalicious — had been politically motivated. That is an argument that Mr. Trump himself has used when seeking to minimize the criminal investigations he faced before his re-election last year and his criminal conviction last May. Mr. Trump on Wednesday also pardoned John G. Rowland, who served as the governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004, when he resigned to avoid impeachment during an investigation into corrupt government practices. 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. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump pardons former NY Rep. Michael Grimm after tax fraud conviction
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has pardoned former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm , a New York Republican who resigned from Congress after a tax fraud conviction. The pardon was disclosed Wednesday by a White House official who requested anonymity before an official announcement. Grimm, a former Marine and FBI agent, pleaded guilty in late 2014 to underreporting wages and revenue at a restaurant he ran in Manhattan. He resigned from Congress the following year and served eight months in prison. Grimm tried to reenter politics in 2018 but lost a primary for his old district.
