Trump pardons dozens in final hours, including ex-aide Steve Bannon
A statement from the White House listed the 73 individuals who had received pardons and the 70 who had their sentences commuted.
Although many on the list are conventional examples of convicts whose cases have been championed by rights activists and supporters in the community, others maintain the president’s trend of focusing on allies.
Steve Bannon was a key strategist and adviser to President Trump during his 2016 campaign. He was charged in August last year with fraud over a fundraising campaign to build a wall on the US-Mexico border to stem illegal immigration, a key plank of Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The White House statement said Mr Bannon had been “an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen”. As he was yet to stand trial his pardon is unusual, though certainly not unprecedented.
A full pardon was also issued to Elliott Broidy, a Republican fundraiser who admitted accepting funds to lobby Mr Trump for Chinese and Malaysian interests. The White House cited his “philanthropic efforts”.
Ken Kurson, a friend of Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner charged with cyberstalking during a divorce, was pardoned.
Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, pleaded guilty to a federal weapons charge last year and has been pardoned. He posted a photo of himself with Mr Trump during the election campaign praising the president’s work on criminal reform.
Other key recipients were:
[LIST]
[]Kodak Black, real name Bill K Kapri, who was also charged with firearms offences, had his sentence of three years and 10 months commuted. The White House statement praised his philanthropic work
[]Michael ‘Harry O’ Harris - co-founder of Death Row Records, who served 32 years for attempted murder and cocaine trafficking and whose case was championed by rapper Snoop Dogg. He was pardoned
[]Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced in 2013 to 28 years in prison on charges of racketeering, bribery and extortion in relation to his period as Detroit mayor from 2002 to 2008. His sentence was commuted - the White House said this was “strongly supported by prominent members of the Detroit community”
[]Anthony Levandowski received a full pardon from an 18-month sentence. He is a former Google engineer who admitted stealing secret technology related to the company’s self-driving cars. The pardon says he had “paid a significant price for his actions and plans to devote his talents to advance the public good”
[/LIST]
Mr Trump has always projected himself as a “law and order” president. In terms of numbers, his pardons and commutations are low. Only George HW Bush issued fewer in modern times.
Mr Trump has granted less than 1% of requests for clemency, the lowest on record.
However, it is the nature of the pardons that has caused controversy. A number of those pardoned have been close associates and allies, such as former campaign manager Paul Manafort, long-time ally Roger Stone and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, Charles. Steve Bannon adds to that list.
There may be more later … :roll:
