“Lawyers Are Quoting $1 Million in Fees to Get Pardons to Trump”
The president “is effectively and responsibly using his constitutional authority,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields said. “Over the past four years, we have witnessed the weaponization of the justice system against the president’s allies. The president is committed to righting those wrongs and ending lawfare.” The Justice Department is “committed to timely and carefully reviewing” all clemency applications and making unbiased, consistent recommendations to the president, a spokeswoman said in a statement.
President Joe Biden set a record for granting clemency during his term, and was broadly criticized by Republicans and some Democrats for protecting his family members and allies. Trump has already shown a willingness to use the clemency power more regularly, with a soft spot for displays of loyalty and gripes about prosecutorial overreach. In his second term, the president has overseen a breakdown in the traditional vetting process for deciding who gets relief and supercharged a pardon economy unlike anything seen before.
Powerful people in business and finance are rushing pitches and stepping up lobbying, catering their appeals to Trump and hiring lawyers with connections to the administration. These defendants with means are spending big for a chance to clear their names, at least in official records if not in public perception. Interviews with about two dozen lawyers and pardon hopefuls, many of whom asked not to be identified discussing plans that weren’t public, have pulled back the curtain on the clemency process under Trump. Some outlined plans to spend at least tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys, lobbyists and consultants, while others say the costs will reach well north of $1 million to put cases together and get them in front of the White House.
“There’s a huge level of interest,” said Margaret Love , who served as the US pardon attorney in the 1990s and now specializes in clemency in private practice. “People think Trump is going to do something for them.”
Presidents from both parties have long used their authority to circumvent official process and dole out pardons to friends and supporters. The constitution puts almost no limits on the practice, though leaders typically wait until the end of their tenure to award clemency. Trump has announced clemency grants on a dozen occasions since he took office three months ago….
“It seems like ordinary people who don’t have the resources to hire a lobbyist or well-connected lawyer and don’t have political connections and access to the White House front door are not being considered for clemency at all,” said Liz Oyer , who was the Justice Department ’s top pardon attorney for three years. She said she was fired in March after refusing to recommend that Hollywood actor and Trump ally Mel Gibson have his gun rights restored despite a 2011 domestic violence conviction. Gibson’s gun rights were restored in April.
Fields, the White House spokesman, said Trump would work with the administration’s pardon czar, Alice Marie Johnson, to “continue to provide justice and redemption to countless deserving Americans.”
Some prior recent related posts covering only a portion of Prez Trump’s clemency actions:
- Prez Trump grants 14 commutations and blanket pardons to all other Jan 6 defendants
- Prez Trump formally announces Alice Marie Johnson will be his “pardon czar”
- Wide praise, but uncertain plans, for Prez Trump’s new pardon czar
- Prez Trump continuing to make robust use of his clemency pen (for white-collar offenders)
- Prez Trump keeps using his clemency pen, building quite the clemency record