President Donald Trump's pardon process doesn't make sense to many observers, including some inside the White House.
Nearly three dozen sources spoke to NOTUS, including lawyers and lobbyists and people inside the White House, about what they described as an ever-changing process that depended on access to the president and creating an appealing story about those seeking pardons.
"There is no process, there is no right way to do this,” said one source involved in the pardon process. “It’s chaos.”
A senior White House official denied the process was "chaotic" and insisted there was "a defined process in place," and another White House official denied that pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson had been sidelined by chief of staff Susie Wiles out of concern about Trump's pardons.
“There has been no change to the pardon process,” that White House official told NOTUS. “The Administration has always had a robust review process which involves the Department of Justice, Alice Johnson, and the White House Counsel’s office. Ultimately President Trump is the final decider. Susie is simply ensuring the process, which has always existed, is followed.”
Multiple sources told NOTUS that Johnson's access to the president seems have been reduced as the White House attempts to tighten up the pardon process, and two sources said Wiles and other senior aides are concerned that some people have been profiting off the process, but Trump doesn't seem to care how the operation is perceived.
“At this point, Trump really doesn’t give a s--- about public reactions to his pardons,” said one source familiar with his approach.
That person said Trump at least once has urged an ally to just ask him for a pardon on behalf of a client navigating the justice system, and he has extended pardons in this administration to those who White House officials believe have had the justice system weaponized against them.
“If your client was sentenced by Judge Boasberg, well, Trump hates Boasberg, so he’s going to give him the finger, right?" said one person with knowledge of the proceedings. "Or this prosecutor is the same prosecutor who OK’d the search warrant of Mar-a-Lago. Well, f--- that guy, right? It’s, what is the language that the president’s going to care about?”