Donald Trump spent his last 24 hours in office not IN the office. He has spent the bulk of his “presidency” at golf courses and Mar-a-Lago, and even when he’s in the White House, he’s rarely spent time in the Oval Office. He prefers to work from what amounts to a TV room so he can keep up with what Fox News is saying about him. So pathetic. Anyway, it is from that TV room that I imagine he signed 143 pardons and commutations. Surprisingly, the biggest news is who Trump has NOT pardoned. No Rudy Giuliani, no Joe Exotic, no Ivanka, no Jared, no Ghislaine Maxwell. Still, Steve Bannon got a pardon:
President Trump has granted clemency to Stephen K. Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who was charged with defrauding political donors who supported building a border wall that Mr. Trump advocated, and Elliott Broidy, one of his top fund-raisers in 2016, among other people.
Mr. Bannon was indicted and arrested in August by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on charges related to the money raised to promote the construction of the wall long sought by Mr. Trump.
Mr. Broidy, a fund-raiser for the president, pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws as part of a covert campaign to influence the administration on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests.
The pardon for Mr. Bannon was described as a pre-emptive move that would effectively wipe away the charges against him, should he be convicted. It was particularly remarkable because he had been charged with a crime but had yet to stand trial. An overwhelming majority of pardons and commutations granted by presidents have been for those who were convicted and sentenced.
The president made the decision on Mr. Bannon after a day of frantic efforts to sway his thinking, including from Mr. Bannon himself.
The White House had planned to release the list of those granted clemency earlier on Tuesday, but the debate over Mr. Bannon was part of the delay, officials said.
By late afternoon on Tuesday, advisers believed they had kept a pardon for Mr. Bannon from happening. But by around 9 p.m., Mr. Trump had changed his mind once again. Mr. Trump and Mr. Bannon spoke by phone during the day as the president was weighing the pardon, and Mr. Bannon’s allies tried to apply pressure to make it happen while his detractors pushed the president not to go ahead with it.
While I am disgusted, I had also prepared myself for a lot worse. Bannon is currently facing federal charges for what amounts to conning Trump supporters for money for “the wall.” I imagine we’ll get additional bites at the Bannon apple, you know? Bannon got pardoned for all of the sh-t he’s done in the past five years – there are still current and future crimes, as always.
Trump also pardoned Lil’ Wayne, Bill Kapri/Kodak Black and Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit. Oh, and two former Republican congressmen: Rick Renzi of Arizona and Randall “Duke” Cunningham of California. Apparently, Trump’s lawyers finally convinced him that if he pre-emptively pardoned his children, he would have to describe the crimes which he thinks they’ve committed. LOL.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty and Backgrid.
Guess that Trump photo paid off for Lil Wayne.
So ready to no longer have this orange nightmare as President.
I am dying laughing that ol’ Rudy Poo is not getting that pardon. Guess he couldn’t cough up 2 million since he didn’t get paid for his last job.
Unless Trump signs some more on his way out. I hope not.
Yeah, but he pardoned Bannon who ripped off his MAGA. He really hate his poor white followers. It’s really sad when you can’t find a side to emphasize with. Just desserts all around
Don’t forget “Pocket Pardons”, which we will NOT know about until/if charges are brought. THEN they become public. I’m not counting out *anything* from this Orange Sh!t Stain.
Thankfully, he didn’t pardon Ghislaine Maxwell.
I was worried about that one for sure!
Yeah I’m focussing on the fact that it would have been a lot worse.
Also, as Kaiser rightly says, there’s plenty of time for Bannon et al to commit more crimes or have state level charges made against them. Plus a pardon is also an admission of guilt so there’s still that.
Sarahcs- and it’s such a typical FU to his supporters by Trump that he pardoned the guy that conned them. I’m glad that hypocrisy is on record.
Plus Bannon can be compelled to testify against Trump now, is that right?
I can’t wait for Bannon to f-up in the future and finally be held accountable because he is nothing but pure poison inside.
Only a matter of time.
Can pardons be issued for people who are not charged yet? As in: can they get immunity from prosecution?
No, a pardon is not a blanket immunity for future crimes
A Presidential pardon can be for a past time span rather for specific crimes. For an example, see Presidents Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon.
The drafting of the pardon is very important. But yes, they can receive a pardon that prevents them from being prosecuted for any crimes they may have committed (but have not yet been charged with) PRIOR to the issuance of the pardon.
I disagree that a President should have this type of power. How do you pardon cases that have not reached a verdict yet, or ongoing cases like Maxwell,or Lil Wayne who has not entered a plea yet? This is confusing.
Accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt. Bannon did NOT think this through. While the charges pardoned are criminal, the individuals he defrauded can still bring civil lawsuits for the fraud. Trump cannot erase their claims.
And I hope they do.
Also strips away a lot of the 5th Amendment rights so the pardoned can be forced to testify and can lead to more problems/charges for the pardoned if they do refuse to testify. The legal minds on the prosecution’s side of these cases have back-up plans i’m sure to the pardons
I would love to know how much they all paid. Joe Exotic probably just couldn’t afford it. I know there was an intermediary/former Trump staffer lobbying Trump who had a fee structure but I’m assuming there was a second payment required that will end up in Trump’s greedy hands.
@SamC
Well Joe Exotic had a limo waiting outside the prison all day yesterday so I’m sure he paid something. Also, his lawyers were SO SURE he was getting a pardon, I thought for sure enough money had changed hands. But, I guess not.
Should we start a pool on when the cuffs will be slapped on Donny Smallhands?
Will the authorities come for his adult children first?
I’ll admit it, watching Dump in get taken away in handcuffs is what I’m looking forward to the most.
I think they’ll come for him next week. NY has been waiting for quite a long time, so I think they’re probably ready to come for him quickly.
And he didn’t self-pardon? Great news. Glad he didn’t pardon Ivanka and Jared. Bannon looks like a big ole drunk, which I’m sure he is. Wonder what the traitor magats will think that he didn’t pardon them. That he left them in the lurch? But they’ll still stick with him, no doubt.
Pardoning celebrities in return for favors or money on your way out the door so you won’t face any political repercussions is so beyond contemptible. I can’t believe this is legal in our country.
On the one hand I hate that someone as terrible as Bannon got anything good. However, I get a small sense of happiness (for lack of a better word) knowing that he got pardoned for ripping off MAGA people because its an opportunity for his followers take a hard look at that and think about what that says about Trump and what he thinks about them. I know they probably won’t. But I can hope.
If you think this is possible, you haven’t been paying attention to who these people are. They will overlook any and all evidence that Trump finds them all to be pathetic loser as long as he provides the avenue for them to treat those they hate badly without reprucussion.
Yeah, they’re not thinkers.
Which is why I said “they probably won’t” 🙂
There’s an interesting article about this over on Politico ‘Trump leaves QAnon and the online MAGA world crushed and confused’, worth a read. Apparently some MAGAs are shocked, *shocked* that Trump would clear donors and swamp dwellers before rioters and insurrectionists!
That was my biggest relief – he didn’t pardon himself or his offspring and he didn’t pardon any of the rioters…. and you know they were just flat out expecting him to… they were entitled!
Russell Crowe would make a great Bannon. Maybe SNL can do a zoom call and make that happen.
Steve Bannon doesn’t deserve a drop of attention except in legal terms. I want to know when he is arrested and how long his sentence will be and where he’ll be incarcerated, but that’s it.
Hate to be a party pooper, but from everything I’ve heard, Trump can issue “secret” pardons that can be pulled out at a later date. In the case of a self pardon, if he attempted that and later revealed it, the question of whether it is constitutional would be decided at that time.
He’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Having just over 2 months before the US Presidential election is allowed to take up office and then, in the meantime, allowing the sore loser to run amok and pardon criminals is dangerous.
Even though I knew this was coming, it still pisses me off. However, my anger is slightly mollified by knowing that his idiot cultists are now celebrating the pardon for the bloated meat bag who stole millions from them, and that makes me smile a bit.
Also, the tears of all the terrorists who broke into the capitol and thought he was going to rescue them are tasting delicious.
Guessing the “drain the swamp” crowd and fox “news” will pretend this never happened.
No clemency for wrongfully accused, those who have been dealt injustice.
Nope, rich, white collar, financial crimes- rich white men should never be held accountable.
That is trump’s brand.
And 74million people voted for it.