Final Trump pardons might free 100
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and aides are putting together a final list of pardons and commutations that could reach more than 100 names, advisers said Monday.
But Trump is not expected to pardon himself or issue preemptive pardons for members of his family, said advisers who were not authorized to comment publicly and refused to discuss who might be on the list that has been developed for weeks.
The president has discussed the idea of preemptive pardons, aides said, but officials said family members do not need them, and attorneys questioned the legality of a self-pardon.
Allies have also warned Trump not to pardon supporters who have been charged with breaking into the U.S. Capitol during the attempted insurrection Jan. 6.
“To seek a pardon of these people would be wrong,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said this past weekend on Fox News. “I think it would destroy President Trump. And I hope we don’t go down that road.”
Trump will put out a final list of pardons sometime before his term expires at noon Wednesday, said two advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity because the list is not yet public.
The president was scheduled to travel Wednesday to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Some of Trump’s pardons are likely to be criticized, advisers said. That group includes Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder indicted in 2019 on espionage charges, and Edward Snowden, the fugitive American who leaked secret files revealing surveillance operations by the U.S. National Security Agency.
Lawmakers have asked Trump not to pardon Assange and Snowden.
The president is also expected to pardon or commute the sentences of prisoners as part of his efforts at criminal justice reform, aides said.
Last-minute pardons, including disputed ones, are something of a tradition for outgoing presidents.
As he left office in 2001, President Bill Clinton pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich in a move some analysts tied to financial contributions.
In late 1992, his term soon to expire, President George H.W. Bush pardoned aides involved in the Iran-Contra scandal.
Trump has granted clemency to more than 90 people, including allies and former aides involved in the investigation of Russian interference during the 2016 election.
Bradley P. Moss, a national security attorney, said Trump’s final pardon list will probably feature “a smattering of contradictions.”
“There will likely be some nominally worthy candidates, such as nonviolent offenders who may have already served time and who most likely have some type of celebrity backer who has the ear of Jared Kushner,” Moss said.
There also will likely be “clearly transactional pardons,” Moss said, including “allies of the president who committed white-collar crimes in the last few years.”
“What is almost guaranteed,” he said, “is the traditional pardon review process will continue to be ignored as much as it has been for the last four years.”