'Extraordinary legal and political collision:' DOJ moves to retry Trump-pardoned fraudster

The Biden Administration is on course for an “extraordinary legal and political collision” with Donald Trump’s presidency as the Department of Justice (DOJ) moves to retry a convicted fraudster granted clemency by the former president, the Washington Post reports.

Philip Esformes only served five years of his 30-year sentence “for his role in a massive fraud scheme — bankrolling a highflying Miami Beach lifestyle of luxury cars, designer clothing and high-priced escorts” before Trump “granted him clemency,” the Post reports. Now, the DOJ is hoping to retry Esformes in a move that will pin “two administrations pushing the bounds of executive authority” against one another.

According to the report, the DOJ is able to reprosecute Esformes “because the jury that convicted him reached no verdict on six counts, including the most serious charge of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud.”

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“Because Trump’s clemency order was silent on those charges, prosecutors say they are able to take him back to court,” the Post reports.

Per the Post:

At stake is whether the government’s move to reprosecute the architect of one of the largest-ever health-care scams undermines Trump’s decision based on presidential powers laid out in the Constitution and historically considered the last word on a criminal conviction.

The highly unusual decision to retry a clemency recipient on hung charges has emerged as yet another flash point in the broader battle between the far right, which portrays the Justice Department as an arm of an out-of-control “deep state” opposed to anyone associated with Trump, and law-and-order proponents seeking to defend institutions of democracy against incursions by the former president and his allies. Experts say they know of no precedent for this dispute.

Read the full report at the Washington Post (subscription required).