Donald Trump pardoned the president of the 2016 campaign, Paul Manafort, using his executive branch in recent weeks as president to release an ally who had been convicted of financial crimes and illegal lobbying.
Trump also pardoned Roger Stone, a longtime political adviser, whose sentence had been commuted to a conviction for lying in Congress; and Charles Kushner, the real estate developer and father of the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Paul Manafort arrives at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York on June 27, 2019.
Photographer: Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images
The White House announced the pardons Wednesday night after Trump arrived at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for vacation.
The clemency received strong criticism from members of both parties. Senator Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican and at one point an opponent of the president, issued a brief statement with the phrase, “This is rotten to the bottom.”
Just the night before, the president announced pardons from many other people, including two men convicted as part of Russia’s investigation by former special adviser Robert Mueller and two former Republican congressmen convicted of various financial crimes.
Manafort, an international political consultant and Republican Party agent, was serving a 7-and-a-half-year term when he was released in May internment due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He was convicted in August 2018 of lying to tax authorities for tens of millions of dollars he earned as a political consultant in Ukraine and tricked banks into his financial health by getting loans.
His conviction also emerged as part of Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election.
Why presidential pardons are normal, Trump less so: QuickTake
Manafort later pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally pressure Ukraine, laundering money to maintain a lavish lifestyle and manipulating witnesses.
Trump had previously resisted apologizing to Manafort, probably in part because doing so posed a political risk. His decision to move forward now seemed at least a tacit acknowledgment that his presidency is approaching, despite claiming without proof that he was robbed of victory by widespread electoral fraud.
Shortly after Manafort’s conviction, Trump told reporters he believed Manafort was a “good man” and said so. felt “Very sad” for the conviction, even though the crimes were unrelated to the president. Trump suggested that Manafort had been unfairly targeted by federal investigators.
“It’s a witch hunt and it’s a disgrace,” Trump said.
Manafort was also charged in New York with lying in mortgage applications for properties in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
But in October, an appeals court upheld the previous dismissal of the charges, finding that state law did not allow for the same charges that Manafort faced at the federal level. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has appealed against that decision.
Vance spokesman Danny Frost said the Trump pardon “underscores the urgent need to hold Mr. Manafort accountable for his crimes against the people of New York as alleged in our indictment and we will continue to prosecute our appeals ”.
Before: Trump Pardons, former campaign aide, two former Republican lawmakers
Elder Kushner was jailed after being convicted of charges that included preparing false tax returns and retaliating against witnesses. He was prosecuted by Chris Christie, then a U.S. attorney in New Jersey, who later became governor of the state and eventually an adviser to Trump.
Moments after the pardon was announced, Stone’s lawyer, Grant Smith, said his client is “humiliated because President Trump has used his constitutional power to allow Mr. and Mrs. Stone to leave.” back and move on with your life ”
On Tuesday, Trump announced the pardons of former campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who was convicted of lying to the FBI, and Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who was also convicted of making false statements during Russia’s investigation. He also pardoned four men who worked as Blackwater security guards and who had been convicted in connection with the 2007 killing of Iraqi civilians.
Former pardoned congressmen include Duncan Hunter, a California lawmaker who pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds, and Chris Collins, a New York representative who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in values. The president also commuted the remaining jail sentence of Steve Stockman, a former Texas congressman who was convicted of misuse of charity funds.
On Wednesday, Trump pardoned another former congressman, Mark Siljander, a Republican who represented a district in Michigan until 1987. In 2010 he pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
Earlier this month, Trump pardoned Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser, who pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents and commuted Stone’s sentence, which he was supposed to serve more than three. years in prison for manipulating witnesses and lying in Congress.
New York Democrat House Speaker Jerrold Nadler criticized the pardons on Twitter.
And Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who led Trump’s impeachment investigation, accused him of corrupting the clemency presidential powers.
“Trump is forgiving pardons, not on the basis of repentance, restitution, or the interests of justice,” Schiff said in a statement, “but to reward his friends and political allies, to protect those who lie to cover him up. , to take refuge the culprits of having killed civilians and of undermining an investigation that discovered massive crimes ”.
Citizens for Accountability and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, a legal advocacy group, said “Trump has made it clear that he believes the purpose of the pardon is to rescue wealthy white men connected to him. Trump has become a instrument of mercy and justice in another way of being corrupt. “
– With the assistance of Justin Blum, David Voreacos and Billy House
(Updates with reaction, from the fourth paragraph.)