Bannon tops Trump’s final pardons list
Ex-strategist among more than 140 gaining from leader’s last-day flurry
Donald Trump pardoned his former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of his presidency that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of the US Congress and other allies of him and his family.
The last-minute clemencies, announced on Wednesday morning, follow separate waves of pardons over the past month for Trump associates as well as for the father of his son-in-law. Taken together, the actions underscored Trump’s willingness, all the way through his four years in the White House, to flex his constitutional powers in ways that defied convention and explicitly aided his friends and supporters.
Trump and his children were not on the list.
Bannon was granted clemency after having been charged with defrauding people over funds raised to build the Mexico border wall that was a flagship Trump policy.
US media earlier reported that Trump made his last-minute decision after speaking to Bannon by phone.
Former Trump fund-raiser Elliott Broidy was similarly pardoned, after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws.
The rapper Lil Wayne, who last month pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, and faced 10 years in jail, also made the list.
Democrat Joe Biden, who beat Trump in an election last year, was sworn in as the new president on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Trump for the first time asked the US public to “pray” for the success of the Biden administration — a change of tone from weeks spent persuading his huge number of Republican followers that the Democrat cheated in their election battle.
Trump has yet to personally congratulate Biden on his win or invite him for the customary meeting in the Oval Office.
Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell explicitly blamed Trump for the deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan 6, saying the mob was “fed lies” and the president and others “provoked” those intent on overturning Biden’s presidential election win.
Ahead of Trump’s historic second impeachment trial, McConnell’s remarks were his most severe and public rebuke of the outgoing president.
The GOP Senate leader is setting a tone as Republicans weigh whether to convict Trump on the impeachment charge that will soon be sent over from the House of Representatives: “Incitement of insurrection”.
The top Republican congressional leader vowed a “safe and successful” inauguration of Biden at the Capitol, where final preparations were underway amid heavy security.
Impeachment trial
Trump’s last full day in office on Tuesday was also senators’ first day back since the deadly Capitol siege and the House vote to impeach him for his role in the riots — an unparalleled time of transition as the Senate prepares for the second impeachment trial in two years and presses ahead with the confirmation of Biden’s cabinet.
Three new Democratic senator-select were sworn into office on Wednesday shortly after Biden’s inauguration, giving the Democrats the barest majority, a 50-50 Senate chamber. The new vice-president, Kamala Harris, was expected to swear them in and serve as an eventual tie-breaking vote.
The Democrats, led by Senator Chuck Schumer, will take charge of that chamber as they launch the trial to hold the defeated president responsible for the siege, while also quickly confirming Biden’s cabinet and being asked to consider passage of a sweeping new $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not yet sent the sole article of impeachment to the Senate, but said on Tuesday on MSNBC: “It will be soon”.
On Tuesday, Google-owned YouTube confirmed it extended a ban on new videos being added to Trump’s channel due to the potential for inciting violence.
The weeklong suspension of uploading or streaming live video to Trump’s channel had been set to be lifted on the eve of Biden taking the oath of office.