WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned his former head of strategy Steve Bannon in a wave of pardons in the last hours of his term that benefited more than 140 people, including rappers, former members of Congress and other allies both his and his family.
The last-minute order, announced this morning, follows other waves of pardons granted in the last month to Trump collaborators convicted in the FBI investigation into Russia, as well as the father of his son-in-law. Taken together, these actions highlight the president’s willingness, during his four years in the White House, to use his constitutional powers in a way that defies conventions and explicitly helps his friends and followers.
The latest list is full of more conventional candidates for such measures and the cases had been defended by activists. A man who has spent nearly 24 years in prison on charges of drugs and weapons, but who had shown exemplary behavior, was commuted to the sentence, as was an ex-marine sentenced in 2000 to a cocaine conviction.
But the names of Trump’s allies stood out among others.
In addition to Bannon, among the allies of the Trump family pardoned was Elliott Broidy, a Republican fundraiser who last fall pleaded guilty in a plot to pressure the White House to abandon an investigation into the looting of a fund of Malaysian investment, and Ken Kurson, a friend of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who was charged in October with cyberbullying in a heated divorce.
Bannon’s case is especially notable because the indictment against him is still in the early stages and months were left for any trial. Beneficiaries of the presidential pardon are usually considered to be people who have faced justice and spent at least some time in prison. The grant to his ex-strategist nullifies the process and de facto eliminates any possible punishment.
“Steve Bannon is being pardoned by Trump after he defrauded Trump’s own supporters of paying for a wall that Trump promised he would pay for Mexico,” Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said on Twitter. “And if all this sounds crazy, it’s because it is. Thank God, we only have 12 more hours left of this lair of thieves.”
Although other presidents have issued controversial pardons at the end of their terms, perhaps no other commander-in-chief has enjoyed so much use of his clemency power to benefit not only friends or acquaintances, but also celebrities and others sponsored by his allies.
Today’s list includes a number of high-profile defendants, such as rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, both convicted in Florida of possession of weapons. Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter, has frequently expressed support for the president and met with him recently to address criminal justice issues. Death Row Records co-founder Michael Harris and New York art dealer and collector Hillel Nahmad were also pardoned.
The same fate befell Rick Renzi, a former Arizona Republican MP who spent three years in prison for corruption, money laundering and other charges; and Duke Cunningham, a former California representative convicted of accepting $ 2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. Cunningham, who was released from prison in 2013, received a conditional pardon.
Trump also commuted the prison sentence of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was nearly seven years behind bars for an organized crime plot and bribery.
Bannon was accused of deceiving thousands of investors who believed his money would be used to fulfill Trump’s star election promise to build a wall along the border with Mexico. However, he allegedly diverted more than a million dollars, paying the salary of a campaign official and his own personal expenses.
Bannon did not answer questions yesterday.
Trump has already pardoned a large number of partners and supporters, including his campaign ex-chief, Paul Manafort; Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law; his old friend and adviser Roger Stone, and his former National Security adviser Michael Flynn.