Presidential Pardons: Political Allies and Corrupt Officials Pardoned

Overview

The pattern of Trump's pardons was documented: a disproportionate share went to political allies convicted or charged in connection with Trump's political activities. Manafort, Stone, Flynn, Bannon — each had been in legal jeopardy in part because of their proximity to Trump. Each received a pardon.

The pardon power is constitutionally absolute. The pattern of its use was unprecedented.

Manafort

Paul Manafort shared detailed Trump campaign polling data with a Russian intelligence-linked operative. He was convicted of crimes unrelated to the polling data sharing — tax fraud, bank fraud, foreign lobbying violations accumulated over years. He was sentenced to 7.5 years and served less than two.

The pardon came on December 23, 2020.

Stone

Roger Stone was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction — crimes he committed to protect information that could have damaged Trump. When prosecutors recommended a standard sentence, the DOJ overrode them. Four prosecutors resigned. Trump commuted the sentence before Stone reported to prison, then issued a full pardon.

Bannon

Steve Bannon was charged with defrauding Trump's own supporters — the people who donated $25 million to build a private border wall, a million dollars of which allegedly went to Bannon personally. Trump pardoned him before trial, on his second-to-last day in office.

The victims of the fraud were Trump voters. Trump pardoned the alleged perpetrator.

The Pardon Attorney

The Justice Department's pardon attorney process exists to ensure clemency decisions are made on the merits — with review of the record, input from prosecutors, and consideration of the petitioner's conduct and rehabilitation. Roughly half of Trump's pardons bypassed this process entirely.