dailyloe.com – President Donald Trump has reportedly stated he will issue mass pardons to his closest advisers at the end of his second presidential term. The Wall Street Journal reported these comments citing anonymous sources familiar with the conversations. Trump reportedly made these promises in casual discussions over the last year.
According to the report, Trump said in a recent meeting, ‘I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval [Office].’ This statement reportedly garnered laughs from the room. Another source said Trump used a similar line in an earlier conversation.
In that earlier instance, Trump reportedly said he would pardon anyone who came within 10 feet of the presidential office. Other sources claim Trump has floated hosting a news conference at the end of his term to announce mass pardons.
In response to the report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, ‘The Wall Street Journal should learn to take a joke.’ Leavitt added, ‘However, the president’s pardon power is absolute.’
Since starting his second presidency, Trump has granted clemency to more than 1,800 people. On his first day in office, he gave unconditional pardons to 1,500 people who participated in the 6 January 2021 US Capitol attack.
Those pardoned included individuals charged or convicted with assaulting or resisting law enforcement during the riot. The attack was carried out by Trump’s supporters.
A Trump-appointed federal prosecutor recently asked a judge to deny a dismissal request from a man accused of planting two pipe bombs. The bombs were placed near the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees.
This occurred the night before the Capitol attack. The man said his charges should be cleared because of Trump’s widespread pardons of those involved in the attack.
He argued his charges are ‘inextricably and demonstrably tethered’ to the riots. The judge overseeing the case has not responded to the man’s request.
Many of Trump’s acts of clemency have been framed as rebukes to the justice system. This followed Joe Biden defeating Trump in the 2020 election to end his first presidency.
The Biden administration sought to prosecute Trump for various alleged offenses before he returned to power. This included allegations of illicitly seeking to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
In October, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Zhao had been sentenced to four months in prison after he pleaded guilty.[]
Source: The Guardian
