Democrats in the House and the Senate are launching an investigation into President Donald Trump’s use of presidential pardon powers amid allegations of bribery.
Two House Democrats from California, Reps. Dave Min and Raul Ruiz, have linked up with Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., in pressing for details about an alleged “pay to play” scheme involving pardons and commutations. The allegations — and Trump’s second-term trend of doling out pardons to convicted criminals who have shown favor to his movement and done business with his family, regardless of whether they showed contrition for their crimes — are a central focus of MS NOW’s new series on Trump’s clemency decisions, “Justice Interrupted.”
The Democratic lawmakers sent letters to 17 people who received pardons or commutations from Trump. The list includes Changpeng Zhao, a billionaire cryptocurrency investor who pleaded guilty to violating money laundering laws — and struck a deal with the Trump family’s crypto firm. Since taking office, the president — whose administration has a hand in regulating the crypto industry — has reportedly seen his family’s wealth balloon by billions of dollars, aided by such investments in the crypto firm, World Liberty Financial.
The letter recipients also include David Gentile, a convicted fraudster whose presidential commutation prevented his victims — that is, thousands of people — from collecting $15.5 million in restitution. Gentile’s commutation is particularly rich given the Trump administration’s supposed focus on prosecuting fraud.
In the letters, the Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about the lost restitution for victims and said their inquiry is designed to “ensure that no President abuses their power to grant executive clemency.”
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Here’s the information they’re seeking, laid out in a press release:
● The process by which clemency requests were initiated and considered;
● Whether intermediaries, lobbyists, or advocates were involved;
● Any contacts with Trump administration officials or associates;● Whether financial contributions or payments were made in connection with clemency efforts; and
● The extent of third-party advocacy supporting the requests.
Trump reportedly said in a recent meeting that he would “pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval [Office]” before he leaves office. In response, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Wall Street Journal that it “should learn to take a joke” — before declaring that the president’s pardon power “is absolute.”
As for the Democratic lawmakers’ investigation, Leavitt denied any impropriety in Trump’s clemency decisions and repeated a previous claim that anyone “spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money.” She added that the administration has a “robust pardon review process.”
Liz Oyer, who served as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney before Trump fired her last year, has been sounding the alarm that the president is making “a mockery” of the pardon system. In an essay for The New York Times, she wrote that Trump has shown how “unfettered executive power can be used to degrade, corrupt and politicize the justice system.”
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.