Donald Trump announces batch of pardons before leaving office
Donald Trump announces batch of pardons before leaving office
Photo / AP Wed, 23 Dec 2020, 3:28PM
US President Donald Trump today pardoned 15 people, including Republican allies, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted of killing and injuring civilians in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.
Trump also commuted the sentences of five others. While it is not unusual for presidents to grant clemency on their way out the door, Trump has made clear that he has no qualms about intervening in the cases of friends and allies whom he believes have been treated unfairly.
WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump has pardoned 15 people, including a pair of congressional Republicans who were strong and early supporters, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.
Trump s actions in his final weeks in office show a president who is wielding his executive power to reward loyalists and others who he believes have been wronged by a legal system he sees as biased against him and his allies. On Tuesday, Trump issued the pardons not an unusual act for an outgoing president even as he refused to publicly acknowledge his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20.
Washington
United States President Donald Trump announced pardons for 15 people on Tuesday, including a pair of congressional Republicans who were strong and early supporters, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe, and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.
Mr. Trump’s actions in his final weeks in office show a president who is wielding his executive power to reward loyalists and others who he believes have been wronged by a legal system he sees as biased against him and his allies. Mr. Trump issued the pardons – not an unusual act for an outgoing president – even as he refused to publicly acknowledge his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20.
December 22, 2020
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 29, 2020. (Patrick Semansky/AP) Hunter, 44, was once seen as a rising star within the Republican party but was sentenced to 11 months in federal prison for misuse of campaign funds. Hunter’s infractions included fraudulently reporting personal golf equipment purchases as donations to wounded warriors and spending thousands of dollars on overseas family trips where he attempted to arrange meetings with defense officials as cover for the travel. The other four veterans on Trump’s list of 20 pardons and commutations were four former Blackwater security personnel: Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard. The men all served in the U.S. military in separate tours in Iraq, but were sent to prison for their role in a controversial 2007 attack in Baghdad which left 14 people dead, including several minors.
UpdatedWed, Dec 23, 2020 at 10:02 am CT
Reply
George Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
WASHINGTON, D.C. President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including a pair of congressional Republicans who were strong and early supporters, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.
Trump s actions in his final weeks in office show a president who is wielding his executive power to reward loyalists and others who he believes have been wronged by a legal system he sees as biased against him and his allies. Trump issued the pardons not an unusual act for an outgoing president even as he refused to publicly acknowledge his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20.