Posted on 12/23/2020 5:56:21 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
President Donald Trump on Dec. 23 issued pardons for another 26 people, among whom are former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and longtime adviser Roger Stone. He also pardoned Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The president also commuted part or all of the sentences for three other people.
The latest actions, coming just after Trump arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season, marks a second wave of clemency actions in the last two days, and brings the number of people Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for to 49.
Manafort and Stone were among several Trump associates who faced charges as a result of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The White House announced that Manafort’s sentence stemmed from convictions prosecuted in Mueller’s investigation, which was “premised on the Russian collusion hoax.”
Trump’s pardoning of Manafort spared the long-time Republican operative from serving the bulk of his prison term of 7 1/2 years.
“Mr. Manafort has already spent two years in prison, including a stretch of time in solitary confinement—treatment worse than what many of the most violent criminals receive. As a result of blatant prosecutorial overreach, Mr. Manafort has endured years of unfair treatment and is one of the most prominent victims of what has been revealed to be perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American history,” the White House statement reads.
“As Mr. Manafort’s trial judge observed, prior to the Special Counsel investigation, Mr. Manafort had led an ‘otherwise blameless life.’ Since May, Mr. Manafort has been released to home confinement as a result of COVID-19 concerns.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theepochtimes.com ...
Just saw John Stossel do an amazing 1+hr interview with Snowden. If Trump wants to "drain the swamp" in the next four years Snowden would be a very valuable asset.
How so?
Usually, for political considerations, presidents open the pardon floodgates before they leave office. Pardons are often unpopular, and if a president is going into another term, the pardons can be used against the president in policy debates.
However, a couple of Freepers made a very good point: if delaying a pardon means a good person remains incarcerated, then delaying is immoral.
I had not thought about that point, but it is accurate.
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