'Blind embrace': Investigation finds alarming pattern linking criminals pardoned by Trump

A new analysis of Donald Trump's presidential pardons exposes an alarming pattern of tit for conspiracy theory-laden tat, a new political analysis contends.

Slate staff writer Molly Olmstead on Monday revealed the findings of her deep-dive investigation into 237 people Trump has spared from serving time on crimes that include drug dealing, domestic abuse, refusing to stop discriminating against Latinos and Ponzi scheming.

"There’s a category of recipient that stands out: his own people," wrote Olmstead. "If Trump wins in November, this is a cohort that stands ready to return to power, and once again fall in line with Trump’s orders."

Olmstead's analysis of Trump presidential pardons goes beyond the big names among his allies — among them Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and Paul Manafort — who have been convicted of crimes.

The Slate writer focuses on those who received pardons from Trump after proving one characteristic highlighted by Jennifer Mercieca, a professor at Texas A&M University who studies political rhetoric.

“Loyalty is paramount for Donald Trump and his network,” Mercieca told Slate. “The ones who stayed loyal have been rewarded with pardons that have enabled them to continue to be loyal to him, to go out and create an alternate media universe — one that’s largely unseen to the mainstream media consumer.”

Olmstead reports those MAGA followers have for months been expressing their loyalty in one way: by injecting a torrent of misinformation into the political conversation ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Bernard Kerik, a former NYPD commissioner and George W. Bush administration staffer; Phil Lyman, a member of the Utah House of Representatives; Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser; Dinesh D’Souza, the director of "2000 Mules;" Rod Blagojevich, the corrupt former Democratic governor of Illinois; and George Papadopoulos, convicted of lying to the FBI about quests for "dirt" on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — all have spread election misinformation on Trump's behalf, according to the report.

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"The phalanx of loyal messengers who were pardoned have, since Trump was voted out of office, continued to amplify the election-conspiracy claims that flatter Trump’s ego and strengthen the idea that he was robbed of power," wrote Olmstead.

"The most significant outcome is not recidivism... It’s a blind embrace of conspiracy theories."

Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at the left-leaning organization Media Matters for America, told Slate he fears this disturbing campaign messaging amounts to more than Trump-focused loyalty.

Gertz argued the Trump-pardoned conspiracy theorists have cottoned on to a tactic the former president frequently uses to his own advantage.

“Trump is their meal ticket,” Gertz said. “They grift off their relationship to him.”

Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College, added this symbiotic relationship motivates the pardoned Trump supporters to do whatever they can to get the former president reelected

“They can’t trade on their proximity to the most powerful person in the Republican Party forever,” Nyhan said. “He’s too old for that to last.”