Trump passes out pardons leaving White House
Ex-president pardons or commutes sentences of more than 140
President Trump waves to supporters at the end of a Murphysboro campaign rally before the 2018 midterm election. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
The president pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 140 people — but not himself — before leaving office Wednesday morning,.
President Trump and his family left the White House Wednesday morning, bound for Palm Beach, Fla., but before that overnight he pardoned longtime political adviser Steve Bannon, rapper Lil Wayne, and the brother of Chicago Bear Hall-of-Famer Brian Urlacher.
The White House released a list of those receiving 11th-hour pardons and commutations.
Most prominent among them was Bannon, Trump’s longtime political adviser and the former head of Breitbart News. Trump had had a couple of fallings out with Bannon, but reportedly had been seeking his advice again in recent days. Bannon had been arrested and charged with fraud for allegedly skimming money from a political fundraising project purportedly intended to help build Trump’s long-sought border wall with Mexico. “President Trump granted a full pardon to Stephen Bannon,” the White House release stated. “Prosecutors pursued Mr. Bannon with charges related to fraud stemming from his involvement in a political project. Mr. Bannon has been an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen.”
Trump also granted a full pardon to longtime Republican donor Elliott Broidy, who had been convicted of serving as an unregistered agent of foreign governments.
Trump also granted relief to a pair of rappers. He pardoned Lil Wayne, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., after he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, and he commuted the sentence of Kodak Black, Bill Kapri, who had been sentenced to 46 months in prison for making a false statement on a federal document.
Illinoisans would also spot the name of Casey Urlacher on the list. The brother of NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears, he was granted a full pardon after being charged with conspiracy to engage in illegal gambling, to which he had pleaded not guilty. The White House pointed out he serves as “the unpaid mayor of Mettawa, Ill.”
In a case similar to Trump’s commutation of the sentence of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich last year, he commuted the sentence of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. According to the White House, Kilpatrick “has served approximately seven years in prison for his role in a racketeering and bribery scheme while he held public office.”
As with Blagojevich, some supporters had argued that his corruption sentence was too harsh, but critics charged that Trump was condoning political corruption. The Vox news outlet charged Wednesday that “Trump has brazenly used the pardon power to shield his associates from consequences for criminal wrongdoing in a way no president has for decades,” and his “pardons have been more political and ethically dubious than any president’s in decades.” Vox cited that Trump “has now pardoned two of his campaign chiefs (the other being Paul Manafort), in addition to his first national security adviser (Michael Flynn), (and) his longtime political guru (Roger Stone).”
Trump, however, did not attempt to pardon himself — a legally dubious maneuver — or members of his family. CNN reported that Trump reconsidered those pardons over the weekend after being advised that they could backfire, resulting in more scrutiny on what the Trumps did during the president’s term in office.
Trump left the White House by helicopter Wednesday morning ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden at 11 a.m. and was reported to be bound for Palm Beach, Fla., and his Mar-a-Lago resort.