‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic Drops Lawsuit Against DOJ Under Belief That Trump Has Received His Pardon Petition Jerry Lambe
Tiger King star
Paul Manafort and Roger Stone by landing himself a presidential pardon before
Donald Trump leaves office next month. To that end, the self-described “gay, gun-toting redneck” and former Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate has dropped his lawsuit against the Department of Justice, telling a federal judge that he believes the president has personally received his pardon petition.
“In this action, Joe Exotic sought to require the acting United States Pardon Attorney to forward his Pardon Petition and a recommendation to the President, so that the President can exercise his plenary power to grant or deny clemency under the Constitution. Subsequent to the filing of this suit, Joe Exotic has developed a belief that the President has received both Joe Exotic’s Pardon Petition (which is the petition at issue in this case) an
Updated: 8:51 AM PST, December 22, 2020
Joe Exotic, the former zookeeper known for his role in the Netflix series, Tiger King, is now suing the Department of Justice after his request for pardon was denied
Joe Exotic, the former zookeeper known for his role in the Netflix series, Tiger King, is now suing the Department of Justice after his request for pardon was denied in September, according to a report.
Joseph Maldonado-Passage, who has been seeking a presidential pardon for months, was convicted in April 2019 for two counts of murder-for-hire for hiring a hitman to kill Carole Baskin, who ran a big cat sanctuary and criticized Maldonado-Passage s zoo. He is currently being held in Fort Worth, Texas, where he is serving his 22-year sentence, Inside Edition Digital previously reported.
Tiger King s Joe Exotic Sues DOJ in Hopes of Getting Pardoned by Donald Trump
Netflix s
Deadline, Exotic whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage has filed a complaint in federal court demanding that the DOJ forward his petition for a pardon to the president. The lawsuit seeks to override a decision from the Office of the Pardon Attorney in September that denied Exotic s application on the grounds that he failed to meet a standard for submission.
In the court filing, Exotic s attorney outlines that the controversial figure had submitted a pardon application along with a request for waiver of the time period requirement but that, on September 10th, was notified via email that the request for the waiver was being denied in a final decision. This decision, according to Exotic s attorney, implied that the Office of the Pardon Attorney was not sending a recommendation to the President and instead was usurping the role of final decision maker on the pardon.