President Trump is doling out more pardons to his friends and allies in the last weeks of his presidency, raising more questions as to how far he intends to go in abusing his pardon power..
President Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people and commuted the prison sentences of five others, including two people convicted of crimes as part of the Mueller probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and three former Republican House members, The Associated Press reported.
Trump also granted pardons to four former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more than a dozen Iraqi civilians dead.
Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump was abusing his pardon power.
“Trump is doling out pardons, not on the basis of repentance, restitution or the interests of justice, but to reward his friends and political allies, to protect those who lie to cover up him, to shelter those guilty of killing civilians, and to undermine an investigation that uncovered massive wrongdoing,” Schiff said, according to the AP.
The question now is how many more pardons will Trump dole out before he leaves office on Jan. 20. Will he pardon his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, members of his family or even himself?
Trump’ gave a full pardon to George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to his 2016 campaign. Papadopoulos served a 14-day prison sentence after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation about his interactions with a London-based professor who claimed Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
Trump also pardoned lawyer Alex van der Zwaan who pleaded guilty to lying to Mueller’s investigators. Van der Zwaan had worked on Ukraine-related matters with Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
These latest moves reflect Trump’s efforts to undo the work of the Mueller probe by granting clemency to former advisers charged in connection with the investigation into Russia’s efforts to help Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Earlier, he pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn and commuted the sentence of his longtime friend Roger Stone.
Also, Tuesday, Trump issued grants of clemency to three former Republican members of congress.
He commuted the remaining prison sentence of Steve Stockman of Texas, who was convicted of misusing charitable funds.
He granted a full pardon to former California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who was convicted on a conspiracy charge for stealing campaign funds for personal use. Hunter was scheduled to begin serving an 11-month sentence next month.
Trump also pardoned former New York Rep. Chris Collins, the first GOP member of congress to endorse Trump in 2016, who was sentenced to 26 months in prison after pleading guilty to insider trading charges.
The four government contractors who were pardoned had all worked for Blackwater Worldwide, the contracting company founded by Erik Prince, the brother of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
And if that’s not enough Trump also pardoned former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were convicted in 2006 of shooting an unarmed drug smuggler and covering it up. President George W. Bush commuted their prison sentences in 2009.