Daily Digest for December 24, 2020 Posted at 7:45 a.m. by Michael Olson |
Good morning. President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest wave of clemency to benefit longtime associates and supporters.
The actions, in Trump's final weeks at the White House, bring to nearly 50 the number of people whom the president in the last two days has granted clemency. Pardons are common in the final stretch of a president's tenure, but Trump has proven himself determined to use his clemency power not only to reward his allies but to support the causes of convicts championed by his friends.
The pardons of Manafort and Roger Stone, who months earlier had his sentence commuted by Trump, underscore the president's desire to chip away at the results of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and to come to the aid of associates he feels were wrongly pursued. He has now pardoned four people convicted in that investigation, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
Shock and dismay after Trump pardons Blackwater guards who killed 14 Iraqi civilians Among the pardons made by President Donald Trump this week, the pardon of four former guards for Blackwater was regarded by some as particularly galling.
Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were convicted six years ago of killing 14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 17 others. Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing on Baghdad's Nisour Square with heavy gunfire and grenade launchers.
NYT: Trump's Pardons The List |
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