Sign Up
..... Australian Property Network. It's All About Property!
Categories

Posted: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 06:58:02 GMT
The entrance to the West Wing is seen with a Marine standing guard, indicating President Trump was in the Oval Office at the White House on Monday, January 18, in Washington, D.C.
The entrance to the West Wing is seen with a Marine standing guard, indicating President Trump was in the Oval Office at the White House on Monday, January 18, in Washington, D.C. Leigh Vogel/Pool/Sipa USA

President Trump is preparing to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter. It will be a major batch of clemency actions that include white collar criminals, high-profile rappers and others but — as of now — is not expected to include Trump himself.

The White House held a meeting on Sunday to finalize the list of pardons, two sources said.

Trump, who had been rolling out pardons and commutations at a steady clip ahead of Christmas, had put a pause on them in the days leading up to and directly after the Jan. 6 riots at the US Capitol, according to officials.

Aides said Trump was singularly focused on the Electoral College count in the days ahead of time, precluding him for making final decisions on pardons. White House officials had expected them to resume after Jan. 6, but Trump retreated after he was blamed for inciting the riots.

Initially, two major batches had been ready to roll out, one at the end of last week and one on Tuesday. Now, officials expect the last batch to be the only one — unless Trump decides at the last minute to grant pardons to controversial allies, members of his family or himself.

The final batch of clemency actions is expected to include a mix of criminal justice reform-minded pardons and more controversial ones secured or doled out to political allies.

Some background: The pardons are one of several items Trump must complete before his presidency ends. White House officials also still have executive orders prepared, and the President is still hopeful to declassify information related to the Russia probe before he leaves office.

But with a waning number of administration officials still in jobs, the likelihood that any of it gets done seemed to be shrinking.

The Jan. 6 riots that led to Trump's second impeachment have complicated his desire to pardon himself, his kids and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. At this point, aides do not think he will do so, but caution only Trump knows what he will do with his last bit of presidential power before he is officially out of office at noon on Jan. 20.

View More
  • 0 Comment(s)
Captcha Challenge
Reload Image
Type in the verification code above