Latest news with #clemency
CBS News
2 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.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
The White House Pardon Office Is Open for Business
A pattern is emerging in Donald Trump's use of the pardon power: The president appears to view clemency as a means to simultaneously reward supporters and rewrite history. Since taking office for his second term in January, he has granted clemency to almost 1,600 defendants. According to Trump — who accused the Biden administration of 'weaponizing' federal law enforcement to persecute political rivals — he is simply correcting injustices. The two dozen recipients of pardons and commutations this week include a former Chicago gang kingpin, three founders of a cryptocurrency exchange, and an embezzling nursing home executive whose mother attended a $1-million-a-plate dinner for Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump has issued a flurry of pardons this week. The common thread: him
Donald Trump went on a pardoning spree this week, granting clemency to gang leaders, reality TV fraudsters, and various white collar criminals. Among the colorful characters freed by the president were a conspicuous number of his own supporters and donors, prompting accusations of corruption and favoritism. There was also a focus in the pardon list on financial crimes and fraud, both of which Trump has had experience defending himself against. Norm Eisen, the White House ethics czar under Barack Obama and executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund, told The Independent that Trump's choices had a lot to do with recasting his own past legal troubles. "As Trump himself is a 34-time convicted felon, he wants to make the point that the system is unjust in order to expiate his own guilt. He can do that by pardoning individuals, particularly those who have politically supported him, and by claiming that their prosecutions, too, were unmerited,' he said. 'The facts in these cases are to the contrary, and these are pardons that no normal president of either party would have made," he added. Perhaps the most baffling of all was his decision to commute six life sentences given to Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang founder, for conspiracy, extortion, and drug charges in the 1970s. Hoover was the founder of the notorious Gangster Disciples and was described by prosecutors as 'one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history.' He was convicted again while in jail of running the gang from behind prison walls. Hoover, now 74, has since renounced his criminal past, and in recent years his case has attracted the support of a number of high-profile supporters in the hip-hop community. Trump is not known to be a fan of hip-hop, nor is he a believer in giving gang leaders a second chance, but during his first term he made liberal use of the presidential pardon to form relationships with high-profile rappers like Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, the latter of which received a pardon from Trump for himself. Those relationships allowed Trump to build superficial inroads with high-profile figures in hip-hop, likely in an attempt to appeal to Black male voters, without fundamentally altering his policies to address their wider concerns. Charles Blow, writing in the New York Times, called the pardons 'a cheap and easy way to win favor with a few big names.' While Harvard professor Brandon Terry said they 'feed that kind of heroic, solidaristic picture of him as a strongman dispensing favor to people who stay in line.' The Hoover pardon appears to fit that bill. Hoover was first brought to Trump's attention by Kanye West during Trump's first term in office, when the pair formed a close relationship. Trump also pardoned NBA Youngboy, a Louisiana rapper whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, likely for the same reason. Gaulden was sentenced in 2025 to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges. Michael Harris, the co-founder of Death Row Records, who spent decades in prison on drug charges, also received a full pardon. Harris had his sentence commuted by Trump during his first term. Hoover will not be a free man, however. Instead, he will be moved from the federal Supermax prison in Colorado to a state prison in Illinois, where he will serve the rest of his 200-year sentence for a litany of crimes he was convicted of in state court. That wrinkle appeared to be lost on West, who posted on X, 'WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR OUR DEVOTED ENDURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FOR FREEING LARRY HOOVER.' Mark Osler, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis and an expert on clemency reform, said Trump's commutation of Hoover's sentence set him apart from other presidents. 'One notable thing that hasn't gotten much notice is that Trump is unique in his willingness to grant clemency to those who have been convicted of violent crimes, including Larry Hoover and some of the J6 recipients,' he told The Independent, referring to the president's pardons for more than 1,500 Capitol rioters in earlier this year. 'This has been on the far side of a bright line for other presidents, who have focused on 'non-violent' offenses in cases that don't involve the death penalty,' he added. The rest of Trump's pardons were more in character, but no less controversial. Among them were Republican politicians, donors and supporters — many of them convicted for fraud, a crime that Trump's businesses have been accused of and denied for many years, and which Trump himself was convicted of in 2014. He pardoned former Connecticut governor John Rowland, a Republican who served from 1995 to 2004, and who was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for charges related to concealing his involvement in two federal election campaigns. Roberto Alves, chair of Connecticut's Democratic Party, said the former governor's behavior 'was condemned by Democrats and Republicans' who worked together in the aftermath of the case to pass 'landmark legislation to bring more accountability to elections and state contracting.' "To erase our state's reckoning with corruption is disrespectful of Connecticut law and a shameful misuse of pardon power," he added. Trump also pardoned Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York who resigned from Congress after being convicted of tax fraud in 2014. Both men had already served their sentences. It was also not difficult to figure out why Trump, a billionaire former reality TV star, pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, a multimillionaire Trump-supporting former reality TV star couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023 on basic cable. They were serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who has pushed for the pardon, revealed in an interview that Trump said her parents 'didn't look like terrorists' and he wanted to give them 'the full pardon.' Critics have seized upon their pardon to accuse the administration of 'blatant corruption.' Perhaps the most controversial pardon was the one given to Paul Walczak, a 55-year-old former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election. Walczak submitted a pardon application to the president earlier this year that focused heavily on the political and fundraising activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago, who had raised millions of dollars for Trump's campaigns, according to the New York Times. His pardon came less than three weeks after Fago attended a $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago that promised face-to-face access to Trump. The pardon meant that Walczak would not have to pay $4.4 million in restitution and would escape an 18-month prison sentence. Liz Oyer, a former pardon attorney at the Department of Justice who was fired from her post in the house-cleaning earlier this year, called Trump's use of pardons 'unprecedented.' 'This administration appears to be using pardons in a completely different and new way, which is to reward people who demonstrate political loyalty to the administration,' she told PBS. Trump's flurry of pardons did not come out of nowhere. They were given a kickstart following the appointment of the new Department of Justice pardon attorney, Ed Martin, earlier this month. The post is traditionally held by a non-political appointee; Martin is not that. Martin had been Trump's acting U.S. attorney in the first weeks of the second Trump administration, during which time he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Capitol riot cases and demoted a number of prosecutors involved in the cases. He previously described Jan. 6 as 'Mardi Gras in D.C.' and helped organize the 'Stop the Steal' campaign to reverse Trump's 2020 election loss. He has raised money for Jan. 6 defendants and even represented some of them. Following the pardon of Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of bribery, Martin tweeted: "No MAGA left behind." Oyer, Martin's predecessor, said his appointment 'sends a message that the pardon power is now being totally and thoroughly politicized, that it will be used as a benefit to those who are supporters of the president and not for those who do not express political loyalty.' Trump's flurry of pardons this week has attracted attention for their partisan nature and the colorful characters he has chosen to release. But they pale in comparison to those he issued in his first weeks in office, when he pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol rioters, many of whom were convicted of violent offences. Back in January, Dr. Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told The Independent that those pardons would revitalize a weakened extremist militia movement. 'By letting violent white supremacists and militia types who engaged in this activity out of prison he has emboldened those movements, made them more powerful, and given them the sanction of the highest office,' she said.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Live updates: Trump to hold rally to promote deal with Japan-based Nippon Steel
President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control. Update: Date: 2025-05-30 12:08:19 Title: Trump's latest pardons benefit an array of political allies and public figures Content: A governor who resigned amid a corruption scandal and served two stints in federal prison. A New York Republican who resigned from Congress after a tax fraud conviction and who made headlines for threatening to throw a reporter off a Capitol balcony over a question he didn't like. Reality TV stars convicted of cheating banks and evading taxes. All were unlikely beneficiaries this week of pardons, with Trump flexing his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of defrauding the public. The moves not only take aim at criminal cases once touted as just by the Justice Department but also come amid a continuing Trump administration erosion of public integrity guardrails, including the firing of the department's pardon attorney and the near-dismantling of a prosecution unit established to hold public officials accountable for abusing the public trust. ▶ Read more about Trump's pardons Update: Date: 2025-05-30 12:06:15 Title: Ask AP a question Content: Update: Date: 2025-05-30 12:05:44 Title: Trump has long warned of a government 'deep state.' Now in power, he's under pressure to expose it Content: Four months into his second term, Trump has continued to stoke dark theories involving his predecessors and other powerful politicians and attorneys — most recently raising the specter of nefarious intent behind former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign papers. The administration has pledged to reopen investigations and has taken steps to declassify certain documents, including releasing more than 63,000 pages of records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Yet many of Trump's supporters say it's not enough. Some who take him at his word are beginning to get restless as they ask why his administration, which holds the keys to chasing down these alleged government secrets, is denying them the evidence and retribution they expected. His Justice Department has not yet arrested hordes of 'deep state' actors as some of his supporters had hoped it would, even as the president has been posting cryptic videos and memes about Democratic politicians. ▶ Read more about Trump and the 'deep state' Update: Date: 2025-05-30 12:02:31 Title: Trump holding Pennsylvania rally to promote deal for Japan-based Nippon to 'partner' with US Steel Content: Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control. Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker's bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as 'partial ownership' by Nippon. It's not clear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured. Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country's supply chain, industries like auto manufacturing and national security. U.S. Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed 'partnership' but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement. ▶ Read more about the deal
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Gang leaders, reality TV fraudsters and white collar criminals: What's behind Trump's pardoning spree?
Donald Trump went on a pardoning spree this week, granting clemency to gang leaders, reality TV fraudsters, and various white collar criminals. Among the colorful characters freed by the president were a conspicuous number of his own supporters and donors, prompting accusations of corruption and favoritism. Liz Oyer, a former pardon attorney at the Department of Justice who was fired from her post in the house-cleaning earlier this year, called Trump's use of pardons 'unprecedented.' 'This administration appears to be using pardons in a completely different and new way, which is to reward people who demonstrate political loyalty to the administration,' she told PBS. There was a particular focus in the pardon list on financial crimes and fraud, both of which Trump has had experience defending himself against. But the president also included some that were more difficult to explain. Perhaps the most baffling of all was his decision to commute six life sentences given to Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang founder, for conspiracy, extortion, and drug charges in the 1970s. Hoover was the founder of the notorious Gangster Disciples and was described by prosecutors as 'one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history.' He was convicted again while in jail of running the gang from behind prison walls. Hoover, now 74, has since renounced his criminal past, and in recent years his case has attracted the support of a number of high-profile supporters in the hip-hop community. Trump is not known to be a fan of hip-hop, nor is he a believer in giving gang leaders a second chance, but during his first term he made liberal use of the presidential pardon to form relationships with high-profile rappers like Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, the latter of which received a pardon from Trump for himself. Those relationships allowed Trump to build superficial inroads with high-profile figures in hip-hop, likely in an attempt to appeal to Black male voters, without fundamentally altering his policies to address their wider concerns. Charles Blow, writing in the New York Times, called the pardons 'a cheap and easy way to win favor with a few big names.' While Harvard professor Brandon Terry said they 'feed that kind of heroic, solidaristic picture of him as a strongman dispensing favor to people who stay in line.' The Hoover pardon appears to fit that bill. Hoover was first brought to Trump's attention by Kanye West during Trump's first term in office, when the pair formed a close relationship. Trump also pardoned NBA Youngboy, a Louisiana rapper whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, likely for the same reason. Gaulden was sentenced in 2025 to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges. Michael Harris, the co-founder of Death Row Records, who spent decades in prison on drug charges, also received a full pardon. Harris had his sentence commuted by Trump during his first term. Hoover will not be a free man, however. Instead, he will be moved from the federal Supermax prison in Colorado to a state prison in Illinois, where he will serve the rest of his 200-year sentence for a litany of crimes he was convicted of in state court. That wrinkle appeared to be lost on West, who posted on X, 'WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR OUR DEVOTED ENDURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FOR FREEING LARRY HOOVER.' The rest of Trump's pardons were more in character, but no less controversial. Among them were Republican politicians, donors and supporters — many of them convicted for fraud, a crime that Trump's businesses have been accused of and denied for many years, and which Trump himself was convicted of in 2014. He pardoned former Connecticut governor John Rowland, a Republican who served from 1995 to 2004, and who was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for charges related to concealing his involvement in two federal election campaigns. Roberto Alves, chair of Connecticut's Democratic Party, said the former governor's behavior 'was condemned by Democrats and Republicans' who worked together in the aftermath of the case to pass 'landmark legislation to bring more accountability to elections and state contracting.' "To erase our state's reckoning with corruption is disrespectful of Connecticut law and a shameful misuse of pardon power," he added. Trump also pardoned Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York who resigned from Congress after being convicted of tax fraud in 2014. Both men had already served their sentences. It was also not difficult to figure out why Trump, a billionaire former reality TV star, pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, a multimillionaire Trump-supporting former reality TV star couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023 on basic cable. They were serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who has pushed for the pardon, revealed in an interview that Trump said her parents 'didn't look like terrorists' and he wanted to give them 'the full pardon.' Critics have seized upon their pardon to accuse the administration of 'blatant corruption.' Perhaps the most controversial pardon was the one given to Paul Walczak, a 55-year-old former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election. Walczak submitted a pardon application to the president earlier this year that focused heavily on the political and fundraising activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago, who had raised millions of dollars for Trump's campaigns, according to the New York Times. His pardon came less than three weeks after Fago attended a $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago that promised face-to-face access to Trump. The pardon meant that Walczak would not have to pay $4.4 million in restitution and would escape an 18-month prison sentence. Trump's flurry of pardons did not come out of nowhere. They were given a kickstart following the appointment of the new Department of Justice pardon attorney, Ed Martin, earlier this month. The post is traditionally held by a non-political appointee; Martin is not that. Martin had been Trump's acting U.S. attorney in the first weeks of the second Trump administration, during which time he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Capitol riot cases and demoted a number of prosecutors involved in the cases. He previously described Jan. 6 as 'Mardi Gras in D.C.' and helped organize the 'Stop the Steal' campaign to reverse Trump's 2020 election loss. He has raised money for Jan. 6 defendants and even represented some of them. Following the pardon of Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of bribery, Martin tweeted: "No MAGA left behind." Oyer, Martin's predecessor, said his appointment 'sends a message that the pardon power is now being totally and thoroughly politicized, that it will be used as a benefit to those who are supporters of the president and not for those who do not express political loyalty.' Trump's flurry of pardons this week has attracted attention for their partisan nature and the colorful characters he has chosen to release. But they pale in comparison to those he issued in his first weeks in office, when he pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol rioters, many of whom were convicted of violent offences. Back in January, Dr. Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told The Independent that those pardons would revitalize a weakened extremist militia movement. 'By letting violent white supremacists and militia types who engaged in this activity out of prison he has emboldened those movements, made them more powerful, and given them the sanction of the highest office,' she said.
