President Trump announced 26 new statements of pardon on Wednesday, including for allies Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, as well as Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner. Mr. Trump admitted 15 pardons The day before.
Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for convictions related to former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Manafort was released from prison in March to serve his sentence for COVID-19.
Mr. Trump had already done it commuted the sentence from Stone, an old friend, in July. Stone was convicted of seven felonies as a result of Mueller’s investigation, including lying to investigators and tampering with witnesses.
Kushner was convicted in 2005 of witness tampering, tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions. Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, has worked in the White House since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s presidency and is one of the president’s most influential and long-serving aides. The case against Charles Kushner was prosecuted by former New Jersey governor and Trump ally Chris Christie.
The pardon announcement comes when the president then arrives in Florida for his Christmas vacation veto the National Defense Authorization Act and threaten not to sign the stimulus package that would help millions of Americans. Mr Trump forgave other allies and former Republican members of Congress earlier this week.
Manafort immediately took to Twitter to thank the president.
“Mr. President, my family and I humbly thank you for the presidential pardon you have granted me. Words cannot fully express how grateful we are,” he tweeted.
While the powers of the presidential pardon are broad, they are generally intended to be bestowed upon those who have atoned for their transgressions, expressed regret for their actions, and often served society in some way. That is not the case with the most recent pardon payments from the president’s allies.
Andrew Weissmann, a senior prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s special investigation, blamed the president on Twitter.
“This president’s pardon is what you would expect if you gave the pardon authority to a mob boss,” he wrote.
The president even received harsh criticism from some Republicans.
“This is rotten to the core,” Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse said in a six-word statement.
But Mr Trump cannot protect his allies from state prosecution, which could be just around the corner.
“This action underscores the urgent need to hold Mr. Manafort accountable for his crimes against the people of New York, as claimed in our indictment, and we will continue our appeals,” said Danny Frost, director of communications at Manhattan District Attorney. Cyrus Vance Jr.