tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post3823628344059113284..comments2023-11-22T04:27:07.521-06:00Comments on glen brown: More Flagrant Abuses of Presidential Powergbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-16125336173892430012020-12-23T21:46:41.043-06:002020-12-23T21:46:41.043-06:00Trump issues 26 new pardons, including ones for St...Trump issues 26 new pardons, including ones for Stone, Manafort and Charles Kushner<br /><br />7:22 PM EST December 23, 2020<br />Washington<br /><br />President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening announced 26 new pardons, including ones for longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner's father, Charles.<br /><br />The pardons of Manafort and Stone reward two of the most high-profile and widely condemned former advisers of the President, both of whom were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller, went to trial and were convicted by juries of multiple crimes. <br /><br />Manafort, who is serving home confinement, initially agreed to cooperate with Mueller then lied to prosecutors, while Stone never cooperated after lying to Congress to protect the President. Manafort spent close to two years in prison for bank and tax fraud, illegal foreign lobbying and witness tampering conspiracies before being released because of the Covid-19 pandemic, while Stone's sentence for obstruction of Congress and threatening a witness was commuted by Trump earlier this year days before he was set to surrender.<br /><br />Charles Kushner, meanwhile, had been prosecuted by then-US Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie in the early 2000s for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions. <br /><br />He eventually pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness -- his brother-in-law -- and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission. <br /><br />Also included in Trump's pardon list Wednesday evening is former California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter's wife, Margaret, just one day after Trump granted Duncan Hunter a full pardon. Margaret Hunter had pleaded guilty last year to conspiring "knowingly and willingly" to convert campaign funds for personal use. <br /><br />Beyond the high-profile pardons, Trump also pardoned more than 20 other individuals, including those who had pleaded guilty to various cyber crimes, firearm possession and mail fraud. He also commuted the sentences of three others. <br /><br />The wave of pardons Wednesday evening comes after Trump used his expansive pardon powers Tuesday for a list that included former campaign aide George Papadopoulos, former US congressman Chris Collins, and the four Blackwater guards involved in the Iraq massacre.gbrownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com