Search & Navigate                    Glossary                    Congress                    Resources & Videos                    About                    
Published: | 2016-Nov-09 |
Last Updated: | 2020-Feb-15 |
Principal Writer: | Rob Dennis and Barry Shatzman |
Understanding The Issue | |
Campaign: Promises | |
Transition: Initial appointments | |
Pardons and Leniency | |
Inspectors General firings | |
Issue Status | |
What You Can Do |
2019 (HRes-660)
DID YOU JUST LEARN SOMETHING?
Is it worth a dollar?
News in FiVe is free to read, but it takes time and money to publish.
If you find what we do valuable, please help us continue with a small donation every so often. Even a dollar or three makes a difference.
In return, we'll keep providing you the most relevant, understandable, and accessible news and information.
It's secure and takes only about a minute.
Thanks!
Trump's pardons
The Constitution, in Article 2 Section 2, gives the president the power to "grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."
In this section we list notable pardons issued by President Donald Trump.
Joe Arpaio (2017-August-25)
Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt for ignoring a federal judges orders.
For more, read the News in FiVe story.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
Sholom Rubashkin (2017-Dec-20)
Sholom Rubashkin was convicted in 2009 of financial fraud in relation to his running of a large meatpacking plant. He also was charged with hiring
hundreds of undocumented immigrants and violating child labor laws (he was acquitted of the child labor charges). He was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
President Trump commuted Rubashkin's sentence. He had served 8 years.
For more, read the Washington Post story.
Click here to read the White House statement on the commutation.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Kristian Saucier (2018-March-9)
Saucier was a Navy sailor who pleaded guilty in 2016 to illegally retaining photos of a submarine's nuclear propulsion system. He also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. He served 12 months in prison.
For more, read the News in FiVe story.
Click here to read the White House Press Secretary's comments on the pardon.
I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby (2018-April-13)
Scooter Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff under President George W. Bush - was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007.
He was involved in leaking the name of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Bush commuted the sentence, but did not pardon Libby, saying he respected the verdict.
For more, read the NPR story.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
John Arthur (Jack) Johnson (2018-May-24)
Professional boxer Jack Johnson was convicted in 1913 of violating the 1910 Mann Act. Johnson (who was black) was convicted of taking a woman he was dating (who was white) across state lines. He served a year in prison.
Johnson died in 1946.
For more, read the New York Times story.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
Dinesh D'Souza (2018-May-31)
In 2014, Dinesh D'Souza pleaded guilty to to making illegal campaign contributions. He was sentenced to eight months in a "community confinement center" and given a $30,000 fine.
For more, read the PolitiFact analysis.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
Alice Marie Johnson (2018-June-6)
Alice Marie Johnson was convicted in 1996 of being part of a cocaine distribution ring and of money laundering. Though her crimes were nonviolent, she was sentenced to life in prison because of mandatory sentencing laws in effect at the time.
She previously had applied to be freed under President Barack Obama's 2014 Clemency Initiative. Obama denied her request during his final days as president.
Trump commuted her sentence. Though not a pardon, she will be released from prison.
For more, read the New York Times story.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond (2018-July-10)
Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond were convicted in 2012 of arson - for setting fire to federal lands.
They previously had been convicted of similar crimes.
For more, read the Oregonian story.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
Michael Behemma (2019-May-6)
Behemma was soldier convicted of murdering an Iraqi detainee under his control. He served 5 years in prison.
For more, read the News in FiVe story.
Conrad Black (2019-May-15)
Conrad M. Black was convicted in 2007 of fraud for stealing $60 million from his company, Hollinger International. He also was convicted of obstruction of justice.
Black is a long-time associate of President Trump.
For more, read the New York Times story.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
Patrick James (Pat) Nolan (2019-May-15)
While Pat Nolan was minority leader in the California State Assembly, he was videotaped accepting a bribe from an FBI agent in the Shrimpscam sting operation.
He pleaded guilty in 1994 to racketeering and served more than 2 years in prison.
For more, read the Los Angeles Times story.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
Michael Tedesco (2019-July-29)
Michael Anthony Tedesco was convicted in 1990 of drug trafficking and fraud.
He was pardoned in 2017 by President Barack Obama, but the fraud conviction remained on his record. That was due to a clerical error, according to the White House statement of the pardon.
Click here to read the clemency statement.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
For more, read the Washington Post story.
Roy Wayne McKeever (2019-July-29)
Roy Wayne McKeever pleaded guilty in 1989 for transporting marijuana from Mexico to Oklahoma.
Click here to read the clemency statement.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
For more, read the Washington Post story.
John Richard Bubala (2019-July-29)
John Richard Bubala pleaded guilty in 1990 to illegally transferring federal government automotive equipment.
Click here to read the clemency statement.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
For more, read the Washington Post story.
Chalmer Lee Williams (2019-July-29)
Chalmer Lee Williams was convicted in 1995 of stealing weapons and computers from checked luggage while working as a baggage handler at Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Click here to read the clemency statement.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
For more, read the Washington Post story.
Rodney Masaru Takumi (2019-July-29)
Rodney Masaru Takumi was convicted in charges related to his arrest in 1987 while working at an illegal gambling parlor.
Click here to read the clemency statement.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
For more, read the Washington Post story.
Ronen Nahmani (2019-July-29)
Ronen Nahmani was convicted in 2015 for conspiring to distribute a synthetic marijuana drug.
Click here to read the clemency statement.
Click here to read the White House statement on the pardon.
For more, read the New York Times story.
Ted Suhl (2019-July-29)
Suhl was convicted defrauding Medicaid out of millions of dollars, and bribing a state official to enable the scheme.
For more, read the News in FiVe story.
Click here to read the clemency statement.
Zay Jeffries (2019-Oct-10)
Zay Jeffries was a World War 2 scientist convicted in 1948 of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.
This is the second time Jeffries has received presidential help in this case. He was indicted in 1941, but President Franklin Roosevelt agreed to defer his prosecution until after the war due to his value to the war effort.
Jeffries was fined for his conviction, but did not serve prison time. He died in 1965.
For more, read The Hill story.
Click here to read the clemency statement.
Clint Lorance (2019-Nov-15)
First Lt. Clint Lorance was convicted of ordering his troops in Afghanistan to shoot and kill Afghan men on motorcycles. The shooting violated the military's rules of engagement, and Lorance tried to cover up the action.
Lorance was six years into a 19-year sentence for his conviction.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Edward Gallagher (2019-Nov-15)
Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher had been charged with premeditated murder for stabbing to death a teenage prisoner of war in Iraq. He was acquitted for the murder, but convicted of posing with the corpse. He was demoted. Trump's pardon restored his higher rank.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Matthew Golsteyn (2019-Nov-15)
Maj. Matthew Golsteyn was charged with premeditated murder for ambushing an Afghan man who had been released from custody in 2010. His pardon comes before the case was tried.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Rod Blagojevich (2020-Feb-15)
Rod Blagojevich was convicted of several corruption charges including...
He had served 8 years of his 14-year sentence before being pardoned by Trump.
Blagojevich is a former contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice - a reality show that was hosted by Trump.
For more, read the Vox analysis.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Paul Pogue (2020-Feb-15)
Paul Pogue pleaded guilty in 2010 to underpaying his taxes. He was sentenced to three years in prison, and was ordered to pay about three-quarters of a million dollars in restitution and a fine.
Pogue's son Ben had donated approximately $100,000 to help Trump's re-election campaign.
For more, read the New York Times story.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Judith Negron (2020-Feb-15)
Judith Negron was convicted in 2011 for orchestrating a scheme that defrauded Medicare out of $205 million over eight years.
She was sentenced to 35 years in prison and ordered to pay $87 million in restitution to Medicare. She had served 8 years of that sentence before being pardoned by Trump. There is no evidence that she has paid any of the restitution.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
MIchael Milken (2020-Feb-15)
In the 1980s, Michael Milken developed and expanded the market for junk bonds - becoming known as the junk bond king. The funding enabled several corporate takeovers and precipitated the failure of several savings and loan institutions - costing taxpayers an estimated $500 billion.
In 1990 he was charged with 98 criminal counts, including racketeering, insider trading, and fraud. He pleaded guilty to six lesser charges.
Milken spent almost 2 years in prison and was fined $600 million. He also was banned from the securities industry.
Differences of perspective
In 1990, the Washington Post wrote that Milken was guilty of six of the most serious criminal charges ever filed against a business executive of his stature.
"Not half a dozen technical violations of obscure regulations, but ... six crimes that any juror or video viewer can understand: cheating his customers by overcharging them on bond deals, secretly rigging securities prices, helping his friends cheat on their taxes, mail fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy," the editorial stated.
The White House press release of Milken's pardon states...
"Milken was charged in an indictment alleging that some of his innovative financing mechanisms were in fact criminal schemes. The charges filed against Mr. Milken were truly novel. In fact, one of the lead prosecutors later admitted that Mr. Milken had been charged with numerous technical offenses and regulatory violations that had never before been charged as crimes."
For more, read the Talking Points Memo story.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
David Hossein Safavian (2020-Feb-15)
David Safavian was Chief of Staff of the General Services Administration (GSA) under the George W. Bush administration.
He was convicted in 2008 of obstruction of justice and lying to a GSA ethics officer, internal investigators, and an FBI agent in the criminal investigation of Jack Abramoff. He was sentenced to a year in prison.
For more, read the Talking Points Memo story.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Bernard Kerik (2020-Feb-15)
Bernard Kerik is a longtime associate of Rudy Giuliani.
Kerik pleaded guilty in 2009 to tax fraud and making false statements to the government while being vetted for federal position. He served three years in prison.
For more, read the New York Times story.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr (2020-Feb-15)
Edward DeBartolo was owner of the San Francisco 49ters National Football League team.
In 1998 DeBartolo pleaded guilty in a bribery case in which he had given $400,000 to then Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards to help him obtain a state casino license. He received two years probation and had to pay a $1 million fine.
He has been a large supporter of Trump and the Republican party.
For more, read the Casino.org story.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Ariel Manuel Friedler (2020-Feb-15)
Ariel Friedler pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2014 for for attempting to break into the computers of his company's competitors. He served two months in prison.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Angela Ronae Stanton (2020-Feb-15)
Angela Stanton - an author and TV personality - was pardoned for her role in a stolen vehicle ring involving fraud, embezzlement, and theft . In 2007 she served a 6-month house arrest for the crime.
For more, listen to Stanton tell her story.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Crystal Munoz (2020-Feb-15)
Crystal Munoz had served 12 years of a 19-year sentence for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Her 2008 conviction was based on a map she drew showing checkpoints along the Mexican border. None of the marijuana was seized from her personally. Members of a drug organization cooperated with the government in her prosecution.
For more, read the Midland Reporter-Telegram story.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Tynice Nichole Hall (2020-Feb-15)
Tynice Hall was convicted in 2006 on drug charges consisting mostly of allowing her boyfriend to use her home as a base to sell drugs. A loaded gun that was believed to have been used in drive-by shootings also was found in her home.
Hall's boyfriend was the main target of the investigation
She was sentenced to 35 years without the chance of parole. In 2016, her sentence was reduced to 18 years due to changes in federal drug sentencing laws.
For more, read the Everything Lubbock story.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Roger Stone (2020-July-10)
Roger Stone was convicted in November 2019 of making false statements to Congress, witness tampering, and obstructing an official proceeding. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the clemency warrant.
Susan B. Anthony (2020-Aug-18)
Susan B. Anthony was a women's rights activist known for her efforts to allow women to vote in U.S. elections. She died in 1906.
Anthony was convicted of voting in the 1872 presidential election. She was fined $100, but vowed to never pay it.
A statement from the Susan B. Anthony museum decrying the pardon said, "To pay would have been to validate the proceedings. To pardon Susan B. Anthony does the same,"
For more, read the Washington Post story.
Click here to read the clemency grant.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Jon Donyae Ponder (2020-Aug-25)
Jon Ponder pleaded guilty in 2005 to bank robbery. He was released from prison in 2009.
Since that time, he started a nonprofit that provides counseling and services to people leaving jail.
For more, read the New York Times story.
Click here to read the clemency grant.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Lenora Logan (2020-Oct-21)
Lenora Logan was convicted in 1999 of conspiracy of intent to distribute cocaine base ("crack").
Click here to read the clemency grant.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Curtis McDonald (2020-Oct-21)
Curtis McDonald was convicted in 1997 for drug offenses and money laundering.
Click here to read the clemency grant.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Charles Tanner (2020-Oct-21)
Charles Tanner was convicted in 2009 for drug offenses.
Click here to read the clemency grant.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
John Thomas Bolen (2020-Oct-21)
John Thomas Bolen was convicted in 2007 for drug offenses.
Click here to read the clemency grant.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Rashella Reed (2020-Oct-21)
Rashella Reed was a Georgia teacher convicted in 2013 for her role in an $8 million fraud against the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs.
The scheme involved setting up fake grocery stores which were used as a front to buy more than $8 million in benefits from the programs. At the time of her conviction, it was the largest prosecution of its kind in Georgia.
Click here to read the clemency grant.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
Click here to read the Justice Department report of Reed's conviction.
For more, read The Telegraph story.
Michael Flynn (2020-Nov-25)
In December 2017, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about conversations he had with a Russian official during the transition from President Barack Obama to Donald Trump.
In addition to pardoning Flynn for this offense, Trump also preemptively pardoned him for "any and all possible offenses" related to the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Click here to read the clemency grant.
Click here to read the White House announcement.
For more, read the NPR story.
Donald Trump explores self-pardon
Trump has not been convicted of a federal crime, so he has no reason to pardon himself. He is, however, part of an investigation into his campaign's and his businesses' ties to Russia, and has explored the possibility.
He claims to have the power to issue a self-pardon. However, that power cannot be fully determined unless he (or a future president) attempts it.
Though a president's pardon power extends to federal crimes only, it is unclear about the ability to issue a pardon for a state crime if a pardon has been given for the same federal issue.
A presidential self-pardon does not immunize a president from impeachment.
More information
Click here for more about the Office of the Pardon Attorney.