Why Donald Trump pardoned high-profile criminals
L to R: Michael Milken, Bernard Kerik, and Rod Blagojevich
This article first appeared on EA Worldview
Trump granted 11 clemencies on Tuesday, including for:
*1980s “junk bond king” Michael Milken, imprisoned for securities fraud and a key figure in the collapse of the US savings and loans industry
*Ex-New York City police commissioner Bernard B. Kerik, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud and lying to Government investigators
*Eddie DeBartolo, a former owner of the San Francisco 49ers football franchise, fined $1 million for concealing an extortion attempt
*David Safavian, the top federal procurement official under President George Bush, sentenced in 2009 to a year in prison for lying about ties to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and obstructing the investigation into Abramoff’s efforts to win Government business
Trump commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, former Governor of Illinois, who was convicted of selling the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama when he became President in 2009.
Under normal practice, the Justice Department’s pardons office would make recommendations to the Deputy Attorney General, who would offer input and then pass the final list to the White House.
But Trump told reporters that he followed his own “recommendations”. According to the White House, these came from longtime friends, business executives, celebrities, campaign donors, sports figures, and political allies.
Patti Blagojevich frequently appeared on Fox TV calling for Trump to commute her husband’s 14-year sentence.
Kerik ia a regular on the network, appearing on Monday night to call for harsher punishment for criminals. He often assailed the “deep state” and an “attempted coup”, targeting Trump foes such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
Trump said Kerik’s case was pushed by more than a dozen people, including Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney and operative in the Trump-Ukraine scandal; Fox TV’s Geraldo Rivera; and Eddie Gallagher, a former Navy SEAL and accused war criminal whose demotion was overturned by Trump last year.
Kerik was also supported by Fox TV’s “Judge” Jeanine Pirro, who asked him in 2006 to bug her then-husband’s boat to see if he was having an affair. Pirro, running for New York State Attorney General, and Kerik were investigated by Federal prosecutors for illegally taping conversations.
Milken was backed by Fox Business Network host and Trump cheerleader Maria Bartiromo.
Angela Stanton, an occasional pro-Trump TV pundit who was also pardoned on Tuesday, was promoted by her godmother, frequent Fox guest and evangelical leader Alveda King.
BILLIONAIRES AND FOOTBALL STARS
Trump spoke at length on Tuesday about Blagojevich, who was a contestant on Trump’s reality TV series “Celebrity Apprentice.” He maintained that he did not know the ex-governor “very well” despite that connection. But, he said, “I watched his wife on television.”
Trump did not address the substance of the governor’s sale of Obama’s Senate seat but announced, “That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence, in my opinion.”
He linked his decision to his hatred of James Comey, the FBI director whom he fired in May 2017 in an attempt to quash the Trump-Russia inquiry, and prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald:
“It was a prosecution by the same people — Comey, Fitzpatrick, the same group,” Trump said, misstating Mr. Fitzgerald’s name.
A source “close to the pardons office” said he/she did not believe that the Justice Department’s pardon attorney supported either Blagojevich’s commutation application or Kerik’s application for a pardon.
Milken was supported by Richard LeFrak, a billionaire real estate magnate and longtime friend; Sheldon G. Adelson, a prominent Republican donor; and Nelson Peltz, a billionaire investor who hosted a $10 million fundraiser for the Trump’s 2020 campaign on Saturday.
Trump acted even though Milken did not have a pending application for pardon or commutation. The financier’s two previous applications were denied and closed.
San Francisco 49er football icons Jerry Rice and Joe Montana and singer-songwriter Paul Anka urged Trump to pardon DeBartolo.
DONATIONS FOR A PARDON
Paul Pogue, a construction company owner who pleaded guilty to underpaying his taxes by $473,000 and received three years probation, was pardoned after his family’s large donations to Trump’s 2020 campaign.
In August 2019, Pogue’s son Ben, the CEO of Pogue Construction, and his wife Ashleigh contributed more than $200,000.
On the day of their first donation, Ashleigh posted an Instagram photo of her and her husband with Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Before August 2019, Ben and Ashleigh Pogue had only donated a few thousand dollars to campaigns, including Rep. Paul Ryan’s Congressional campaign in 2017 and $5,400 for Sen. Rick Santorum’s 2016 run for President.
Santorum, now a contribute to CNN, pressed for clemency for Paul Pogue.
GET ME ABSOLUTION FOR ROGER STONE
Officials said that Trump also raised the prospect of commuting any sentence for his longtime friend, dirty tricks specialist, and Trump-Russia operative Roger Stone.
Last week, after Trump insisted that Stone’s conviction was a “miscarriage of justice”, Attorney General William Barr ordered senior Justice Department staff to overrule prosecutors’ recommendation of a sentence of 7 to 9 years for witness intimidation and lying to Congress.
Stone is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday. Asked about a pardon on Tuesday, Trump insisted, “I haven’t given it any thought.”
Presidents usually wait until the final days of their administration to issue pardons. But Trump has sought headlines and favor, including with his favored outlet Fox, by wielding the power. In August 2017, he issued a “full and unconditional pardon” to Joe Arpaio, the anti-immigration Arizona sheriff convicted of contempt of court for defying legal processes over detention of immigrants. In 2018, he absolved Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a senior aide to Vice President Dick Cheney in the George W. Bush Administration.