That was just for starters. As the days turned into months Trump has continued to grant pardons for convicted criminals. The one thing they all have in common is that they are Trump supporters. Apparently, that's the only criteria the regime requires.
Why?
Because the orange Cheeto is amplifying his narrative of persecution and it casts doubts on the legitimacy of the justice system that he has since purged of perceived political enemies.
Last week Trump commuted the sentence of former GOP Representative George Santos of New York, who was jailed for multiple counts of wire fraud, aggravated identify theft, campaign finance violations, and other financial crimes.
The First Felon has also commuted the sentences of many political allies, some who were convicted of assisting in preparing fraudulent tax returns, conspiracy to commit extortion and money laundering. So far Trump has pardoned nine GOP lawmakers.
Santos' release from federal prison has reignited a national debate about handing out pardons for political gain and personal gain. Trump's abuse of the system is historic. With a little over three years left in his term we can count on him to continue to abuse the system to serve his purposes.
Trump's disregard of the system flaunts rules, and costs victims and the public more than $1 billion, according to an article by Joseph Neff, of The Marshall Project, that appeared in the Louisiana Illuminator.
Legal experts say no president has started a term with so many pardons that violate long-standing policies and norms.
In serious crimes - violence or expensive white-collar crime, for example - the Justice Manual recommends that a suitable length of time should elapse before a pardon is even considered to avoid denigrating the seriousness of the offense.
George Santos only completed 3 months of his 87-month conviction. Also, according to the Justice Manual on pardons the person must accept responsibility and be remorseful: "A petitioner should be genuinely desirous of forgiveness rather than vindication."
Santos is not, and has not, shown any signs of remorse for his actions. As a matter of fact, he said that he isn't going to pay back any of the money he stole unless forced too.
Here's a frightening statistic: Trump has pardoned more than 1,600 people and at least two organizations in his first six months in office. We know there's been more in the last three months with Santos being the latest.
Liz Oyer, who served as a Pardon Attorney for three years has set up a "pardon tracker" on her website that tallies the price of Trump's pardons of people and companies that owed restitution and fines.
As of July 15, the cost to taxpayers and crime victims is more than $1.3 billion. Oyer's tracker shows a growing backlog of pardon applications from ordinary Americans. The queue was just under 5,000 when Trump slung into office. Since then, the list has more than doubled to 11,664.
As it Stands, it's obvious that the First Felon has a soft spot for criminals, as long as they support him, and pay bribes.
No comments:
Post a Comment