Here’s Who’s On Trump’s Potential Pardon List

okaygteam

2 months ago

Topline

President-elect Donald Trump could start pardoning people arrested in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on his first day in office, he told NBC in an interview Sunday—among a string of controversial figures Trump has suggested he could pardon.

President-elect Donald Trump meets with Prince William on Saturday in Paris.

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Key Facts

Jan. 6 rioters: Trump told NBC he’s “going to be acting very quickly” on relief for people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, adding he will act on his “first day,” possibly including people who pleaded guilty—though he said there “may be some exceptions” for people who were “radical” or “crazy.”

Trump has said repeatedly he would pardon people over the Jan. 6 riots, though it’s unclear who among the more than 1,500 charged would be subject to pardons; he told reporters in July “if they’re innocent, I would pardon them,” while his campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told the Washington Post in June Trump would decide “on a case-by-case basis” who to pardon.

Ross Ulbricht: Supporters of Ulbricht—sentenced in 2015 to life in prison for creating and operating the dark web marketplace Silk Road—tweeted days after Trump won the election “ROSS IS COMING HOME IN JANUARY,” after Trump pledged while speaking at the Libertarian National Convention in May that “on Day One, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht” (commutation is different from a pardon as it does not absolve an individual of guilt, but instead reduces their sentence).

Peter Navarro: Trump left open the possibility he would pardon his former trade adviser—who served a four-month prison sentence earlier this year on charges of contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena in connection with the House Jan. 6 Committee probe—telling reporters after voting in Florida on Election Day “he’s a good man, he was treated very unfairly,” calling Navarro a “great patriot” when asked if he would pardon him.

Navarro told the Wall Street Journal in May he would reject any pardon offer from Trump, because he wants to continue appealing his conviction, writing in a letter sent from prison, “I will not give the Supreme Court any excuse to duck what is otherwise a landmark constitutional case.”

Julian Assange: Trump said in May in an interview with podcaster Tim Pool he would “give very serious consideration” to pardoning the WikiLeaks founder—who struck a deal with the U.S. government in June to plead guilty to publishing military secrets, securing his freedom after 12 years in the U.K.—some of it spent in prison—while fighting extradition to the U.S.

News Peg

President Joe Biden announced a surprise move to pardon his son Hunter Biden last week, marking a reversal from his previous statements ruling out a pardon for his son. The sweeping “full and unconditional pardon” prevents Hunter Biden from being prosecuted for any alleged offenses since the start of 2014, in addition to wiping away his tax and gun felonies. Biden argued his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” by the Justice Department for political purposes and “singled out only because he is my son,” the president said in a statement.

Surprising Fact

Trump suggested previously he was open to pardoning the president’s son. He told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt recently, “I wouldn’t take it off the books . . . despite what they’ve done to me,” when Hewitt asked if he was open to pardoning the younger Biden, suggesting he was taking a moral high ground compared to the Justice Department, which he claims has unfairly prosecuted him.

Tangent

Already, some Jan. 6 defendants and their lawyers have referenced Trump’s pardon promises in court, though most judges have rejected the argument. A D.C. judge denied a request from Christopher Carnell, who was found guilty earlier this year of felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from his participation in the attacks, to delay a hearing in his case, citing Trump’s “multiple clemency promises.” D.C. federal judge Judge Rudolph Contreras agreed to delay the trial of another Jan. 6 defendant, William Pope, until after the inauguration after Pope argued Trump could pardon him and other accused rioters.

Who Else Could Trump Pardon?

Journalists, social media users and Polymarket bettors have speculated about a long list of characters, while others facing criminal charges have made new requests to Trump after his election. Journalists and prosecutors have suggested Trump could order the Justice Department to dismiss the federal corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams or pardon him if he’s convicted. Trump has said he predicted Adams would be indicted because of Adams’ sharp rhetoric regarding the migrant crisis in New York City, building on his baseless claims that the Justice Department is working at the Biden administration’s behest. “I know what it’s like to be persecuted by the D.O.J. for speaking out against open borders,” Trump said at a charity dinner in New York City earlier this year, sympathizing with Adams. In another case that has links to Trump’s own criminal election interference charges in Georgia, Trump has said rapper Young Thug was being treated “very unfairly” during an interview with podcaster Adin Ross in August. The rapper recently agreed to plead guilty to drug- and gun-related charges in the racketeering case brought by Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis’ office, who also charged Trump under the state’s RICO statute. Washington Post columnist Phillip Bump also predicted Trump “would almost certainly quickly pardon” Todd and Julie Chrisley, the Atlanta reality TV stars serving prison time for federal tax evasion and bank fraud charges. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, spoke at the Republican National Convention and derided “rogue prosecutors . . . the Democrats’ corruption” and “the Biden family’s corruption” in what was widely viewed as a direct appeal to Trump to pardon her parents if he were elected.

Will Trump Need To Pardon Himself?

Federal judges dismissed the Justice Department’s classified documents and election interference cases against Trump last month at the request of the DOJ, which has a long standing precedent of declining to prosecute sitting presidents. The Justice Department could still bring charges against Trump after he leaves office, leaving open the possibility Trump could pardon himself for potential future indictments before he leaves office. The Constitution prohibits Trump from pardoning cases at the state level, which rules out his ability to pardon himself in his New York criminal fraud case and his Fulton County, Georgia, election interference case.

Can Trump Pardon Himself?

The legality of the scenario is unclear as Trump is the first person elected president to have been convicted of a crime, but Trump previously dismissed the ideatelling NBC News last year, prior to his Manhattan hush money conviction, it was “very unlikely” he’d pardon himself, because he “didn’t do anything wrong.” Legal scholars are split on whether the Constitution would permit him to do so. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley noted in a 2018 USA Today column that “there is no language” in the Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, which lays out the terms for presidential pardons, that specifies “who may or may not be the subject of a pardon,” leaving open the possibility the president could pardon himself, though Turley writes that “it would be a disastrous idea.” Others, including law professors Laurence Tribe, Richard Painter and Norman Eisen, wrote for the Washington Post that because the Constitution prevents the president from using his pardon power to prevent his own impeachment and removal, and those who are removed through impeachment are subject to criminal prosecution, it “would make no sense if the president could pardon himself.”

Big Number

143. That’s how many people Trump pardoned during his first White House term. He also issued 94 commutations. Only two other presidents, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, granted fewer acts of clemency, according to Pew Research. Trump’s pardons were particularly controversial because many of the individuals had personal connections to the president, including former members of his 2016 campaign team, Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, George Papadopoulos and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Key Background

Presidents have broad authority to issue pardons in ongoing and completed criminal, but not civil, federal cases under Article II Section 2 of the Constitution, which states the president “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Pardons do not wipe convictions from a person’s record, but instead eliminate some, but not all, penalties associated with a conviction. Individuals convicted of federal felonies and pardoned by the president would still be prohibited from voting in federal elections in some states, for example, according to the Brookings Institution. Pardoned individuals also do not have a right to a refund for a monetary fine or the seizure of assets or cash in connection with their criminal cases, unless the pardon was issued before the money or property was “fully vested in a person or entity” or if “the conditions of the pardon preclude this.”