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Jump to: 2017; 2018; 2019; 2020;
Undated: A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be absolved of guilt for an alleged crime or other legal offense, as if the act never occurred. The pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the jurisdiction.[1][2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon
Undated: In law, a commutation is the substitution of a lesser penalty for that given after a conviction for a crime. The penalty can be lessened in severity, in duration, or both.[1] Unlike most pardons by government and overturnings by the court (a full overturning is equal to an acquittal), a commutation does not affect the status of a defendant's underlying criminal conviction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commutation_%28law%29
-- 2017 --
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July 22: The Washington Post reported Thursday that Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the Justice Department's probe into Russia's efforts to influence last year's election, which is being led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/22/politics/trump-tweets-pardon-powers/index.html
July 22: John Dowd, the attorney defending Trump in the Mueller investigation, called the Post story about Trump considering pardons "nonsense."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/22/politics/trump-tweets-pardon-powers/index.html
August 14: "President Trump would be literally pardoning Joe Arpaio’s flagrant violation of federal court orders that prohibited the illegal detention of Latinos," said Cecillia Wang, ACLU deputy legal director and one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. "He would undo a conviction secured by his own career attorneys at the Justice Department. Make no mistake: This would be an official presidential endorsement of racism.”
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/08/14/trump-seriously-considering-pardon-arpaio/565583001/
August 25: Pardons Granted by President Donald Trump
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-donald-trump
December 20: Trump commutes sentence of rabbi convicted for bank fraud
https://nypost.com/2017/12/20/trump-commutes-sentence-of-rabbi-convicted-for-bank-fraud/
-- 2018 --
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May 31: President Donald Trump moved Thursday to put his own stamp on the presidential-clemency process, pardoning conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza for campaign-finance violations
Mr. D’Souza was convicted after pleading guilty to a felony in 2014 case over the funneling of illegal campaign contributions to a Republican Senate candidate in New York. He was sentenced to five years of probation.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-says-he-will-pardon-conservative-commentator-dinesh-dsouza-1527775867
June 1: A look at Trump’s pardons and commutations so far
https://www.apnews.com/b5a33aa01241479a888f727e7ec06909
June 1: Trump pardons: "What they did to him was horrible," Trump told reporters, speaking of his decision to clear the name of Dinesh D'Souza, who had pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud.
It was the latest example of Trump trying to right a perceived wrong with his presidential pardon power, and a move that makes ever clearer that, in the Trump administration, the odds of a pardon have heavily favored those with a celebrity backer, those who have become a cause celebre among conservatives and those with a reality TV connection.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-pardons-celebrity-connections-conservative-55578211
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June 4: President Trump triggered a national debate about the use and limits of presidential pardon powers, as he has largely bypassed the traditional review process to grant a series of politically-charged pardons, and even raised, through his attorneys, the specter of pardoning himself, if that ever became necessary.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-pardons-spark-fierce-debate-message-motives/story?id=55620583
June 4:
The president claimed the Mueller probe is unconstitutional and insisted he can pardon himself.
June 4: Trump and Giuliani Accidentally Make the Case for Impeachment
By invoking the specter of a self-pardon, the president and his defenders are implicitly suggesting that only Congress can constrain an executive's lawless behavior.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/can-the-president-actually-pardon-himself/561923/
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June 4: Ex-Navy sailor pardoned by Trump says he's suing Comey and Obama ... A former Navy sailor who is one of five people to receive a pardon from President Donald Trump is planning to file a lawsuit against Obama administration officials, alleging that he was subject to unequal protection of the law.
Specifically, Kristian Saucier, who served a year in federal prison for taking photos of classified sections of the submarine on which he worked, argues that the same officials who meted out punishment to him for his actions chose to be lenient with Hillary Clinton in her use of a private email server and handling of classified information.
His lawyer, Ronald Daigle, told Fox News on Monday that the lawsuit, which he expects to file soon in Manhattan, will name the U.S. Department of Justice, former FBI Director James Comey and former President Barack Obama as defendants, among others.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/06/04/ex-navy-sailor-pardoned-by-trump-says-hes-suing-comey-and-obama.html
June 4: Can Trump actually pardon himself? Experts weigh in
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/04/is-trump-correct-that-he-can-pardon-himself-experts-weigh-in
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June 5: Key Senate Republicans Warn Trump on Obstruction, Pardon Powers ... Several Senate Republicans are warning Donald Trump against obstructing justice or pardoning himself, even as they continue to say there’s no evidence to support allegations the president’s team colluded with Russia in the 2016 elections.
“I’d advise everybody from the president to the people operating the elevator, don’t obstruct justice,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was one of the House managers of the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-05/key-senate-republicans-warn-trump-on-obstruction-pardon-powers
June 5: Donald Trump is ‘Obsessed’ With Pardons, His New ‘Favorite Thing,' White House Official Says
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-obsessed-pardons-white-house-960430
June 6: Trump commutes sentence of Alice Marie Johnson
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/06/politics/alice-marie-johnson-commuted-sentence/index.html
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June 6: The White House has assembled the paperwork to pardon dozens of people, two sources with knowledge of the developments tell CNN, signaling that President Donald Trump is poised to exert his constitutional power and intervene, in some instances, where he believes the Justice Department has overstepped.
The administration has prepared the pardoning paperwork for at least 30 people, the sources tell CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/06/politics/donald-trump-pardons/index.html
June 21: Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said he wants professional athletes who kneel during the National Anthem to protest racial injustice to tell him who they think the President should pardon next.
On Thursday, a group of NFL players responded to the President in a New York Times an op-ed. But the athletes aren't giving Trump a list of names. Instead, they call for broader changes to the criminal justice system.
"A handful of pardons will not address the sort of systemic injustice that NFL players have been protesting," the authors -- Doug Baldwin of the Seattle Seahawks, Anquan Boldin, a former NFL wide receiver, Malcolm Jenkins of the Philadelphia Eagles and Benjamin Watson of the New Orleans Saints -- write.
"If President Trump thinks he can end these injustices if we deliver him a few names, he hasn't been listening to us."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/21/politics/nfl-players-trump-pardon-requests/index.html
September 18: Trump-proof aspects of Manafort deal rankle lawyers
Robert Mueller seems to have built in safeguards to discourage the president from pardoning Manafort.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s plea agreement with Paul Manafort on Friday took unusual and possibly unprecedented steps to undercut President Donald Trump’s ability to pardon his former campaign chairman.
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The plea deal Mueller struck with Manafort contains several provisions that appear intended to discourage the former Trump aide from seeking a pardon and to rein in the impact of any pardon Trump might grant.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/18/manafort-deal-pardon-mueller-trump-827898
November 20: Trump pardons Thanksgiving turkeys in somewhat joyless event
The US president also tried his hand at political satire, much to the chagrin of his audience
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/20/trump-pardons-thanksgiving-turkeys
November 28: Trump: Manafort Pardon Not 'Off The Table' After Briefings From Manafort's Lawyer
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/28/671497142/trump-steps-up-mueller-attacks-following-report-about-briefing-from-manafort-law
December 12: Can Trump pardon Cohen or Manafort? Here's who he's given clemency to so far
Trump has granted clemency to nine people so far, and he could pardon either Manafort or Cohen if he chose.
https://www.businessinsider.com/who-has-trump-pardoned-so-far-arpaio-johnson-scooter-libby-2018-5
-- 2019 --
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May 25: Can a Pardon Be a War Crime?: When Pardons Themselves Violate the Laws of War
President Donald Trump’s inclination to grant pardons to several military and contractor personnel accused or convicted of war crimes may itself be a violation of the laws of war, if not a war crime. In an extraordinary public statement issued Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – an international organization that usually acts through confidential communications with parties to armed conflict – explains the distinction between pardons and amnesties. The ICRC does not comment on specific cases, and in this statement, does not opine on the legality, let alone the possible criminality, of any particular grant of pardon/amnesty. But the fact that the organization chose to weigh in on such a hot button issue suggests how serious a threat such action by President Trump would be to the system of international law.
Here’s what’s at stake ...
https://www.justsecurity.org/64288/can-a-pardon-be-a-war-crime-when-pardons-themselves-violate-the-laws-of-war/
-- 2020 --
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