Jack Mallory
There are about 14,000 clemency applications that have gone unaddressed during Trump's administration. Yesterday he granted 11 of these, including a "former football team owner who hosted a pre-inauguration party, a onetime contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice” and an infamous investor championed both by Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, and by the billionaire who hosted a $10 million fund-raiser for Mr. Trump just last weekend."
Almost half of the recipients were rich, powerful, well-connected white men, several of whom "were vocal supporters of Mr. Trump, donated to his campaign or in one case had a son who weekended in the Hamptons with the president’s eldest son."
Should we presume that these people were more deserving of clemency than the other 14,000 or so mostly poor, powerless, and unconnected convicts hoping for pardons?
“'There is now no longer any pretense of regularity,' said Margaret Love, who served as pardon attorney under President Bill Clinton and now represents clients seeking clemency. 'The president seems proud to declare that he makes his own decisions without relying on any official source of advice, but acts on the recommendation of friends, colleagues and political allies.'"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/us/politics/trump-pardons.html
This is not surprising, but scarcely reassuring to those waiting for their applications to proceed without such recommendations.
******
Nora, I have no idea what your reactions to the deaths of SFC Gutierrez and Rodriguez were. I do have the impression from the media coverage that many Americans were more focused on the death of Kobe Bryant and the race car accident that you posted about.
******
And just in as of 12:33: 3+ years for Roger Stone. Anybody taking bets on a pardon for him? Rich, powerful, well-connected friend of IMPOTUS . . .
Oh, you beat me to it, Robert! Yes, he skated on this, even if discomfited by being awakened early. If I recall correctly, there were computer files the Feds wanted to make sure didn't have an accident. A Trump associate doing something illegal? Nora seems much more upset by law enforcement reaction than criminal action.
|