Donald Trump allies burdened by criminal convictions are getting in line for what could be a new wave of pardons during his second term after his White House "sidelined" the office where recommendations were traditionally made.
According to a report from the New York Times' Kenneth Vogel, lawyers and lobbyists, many collecting massive fees, are taking their pitches directly to the president and White House insiders by emphasizing their clients' loyalty to the current occupant in the Oval Office.
Following Trump's mass pardon of Jan. 6 insurrectionists, there is a new team in the White House whose job it is to " focus on clemency grants that underscore the president’s own grievances about what he sees as the political weaponization of the justice system."
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"Clemency petitioners are mostly circumventing that system, tailoring their pitches to the president by emphasizing their loyalty to him and echoing his claims of political persecution," the report notes before adding "According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Trump’s White House had marginalized the pardon attorney’s office, shifting control of much of the clemency operation to the White House Counsel’s Office."
According to Rachel E. Barkow, a professor at New York University School of Law, "The potential for corruption is higher ... Because they’re starting early, they have figured out how they want to set it up so that people have a pipeline to get to them. Like any sequel, it’s going to be worse.”
Alex Little, a former federal prosecutor, has three clients in the pipeline who are "seeking clemency with appeals that mirror Mr. Trump’s grievances," the report states with Little admitting, "There are key players in the Trump administration who have had a front-row seat to prosecutorial misconduct. It changes your perspective on these issues, and it’s difficult to ignore that when you’re back in government.”
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