Wasting Away in Pardonritaville
By: John Dean
Tags: Politics, Crime, President, Government, Trump

Wasting Away in Pardonritaville

The soon-to-be-indicted president hands out pardons like candy to a motley crew of felons

I don’t recall the last time I hired a prostitute to set up my brother-in-law by videotaping his infidelity, so I can’t tell you whether or not I sent the videotape to my sister. Charlie Kushner can, but the memory just became less painful to him. The president of the United States just pardoned this and several other of his crimes. It’s gift-giving season at the White House. A priority has been placed on those committing particularly despicable offenses.

A complete list of Trump’s pardons is a work in progress. On December 23, there were 26 new entries. Many of the names are familiar, including several Republicans who have not yet disowned the defeated president. Have you heard of Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and ex-Congressman Duncan Hunter? These lucky people committed white-collar crimes, “harmless offenses” like misuse of campaign funds and lying to federal agents.

And don’t forget Bernard Kerik, once Commissioner of Police in New York City. He authored The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice and From Jailer to Jailed. Barnes and Noble writes:

With astonishing candor, bravery, and insider’s intelligence, Bernard Kerik shares his fall from grace to incarceration, and turns it into a genuine and uniquely insightful argument for criminal justice reform.

Some of the lesser-known names on the list have been pardoned from convictions for murder in the first degree, securities and tax fraud, manslaughter, and witness tampering, obstruction of justice, wire fraud, mail fraud, and “deprivation of rights under color of law.” What is that?

Before this year’s season of giving, Trump pardoned someone from a conviction for “illegal voting,” Susan B. Anthony. He also pardoned boxer Jack Johnson, who, in 1913, was convicted of transporting his girlfriend across state lines. Both pardons were posthumous. Trump also has pardoned turkeys each year of his presidency.

And a few “traditional criminals”

As is well-known, the president is a man of compassion. This is evidenced by pardons to drug dealers, money launderers, and one guy convicted of operating off-road vehicles on public lands and roads. One other guy was convicted of illegally operating a still.

Stand by for more

Nobody expects Trump is done with his exercise of the authority to pardon. Ivanka, Jared, Don, Jr., and Eric, are in line, possibly wondering when their names will come up. Maybe Trump will issue thousands of pardons at once and sneak this quartet into the mix. Who could fault Trump for pardoning his own family, even without so much as an indictment?

Harvard Law professor Jack Goldsmith has analyzed Trump’s recent pardons. He found that 88 percent of the pardons issued before December 22 were made to people with personal connections to Trump or who had aided him politically. Will the president try to improve on this number? The answer depends on what Trump thinks an improvement might look like: Will he find more family and business connections and political allies who need pardons? Or will he try to cover-up the implication that he is abusing the pardon authority by pardoning more drug dealers and any tax cheats he might find who don’t have business relationships with the Trump Organization?

And then there is himself

Among legal scholars, there is a lot of discussion about whether the President can pardon himself. It’s unclear whether he has this power, but we may get a Supreme Court ruling sometime in 2021 to settle the issue. And, fortunately, Trump cannot pardon himself from state offenses. Reports continue to appear suggesting New York and other prosecutors will indict him once he leaves office.

The perks of being president

There are many things about the presidency that Donald J. Trump will miss after January 20. Among them are Air Force One, Marine One, “The Beast,” Secret Service help find lost golf balls, and federally paid translators to help in during phone calls and meetings with Vladimir Putin. But perhaps at the top of the list will be the power to grant “Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of impeachment.” See Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution.