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President Donald Trump pardons Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Charles Kushner

Picture: AP, EPA President Donald Trump pardoned more than two dozen people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law
They are the latest pardons in a wave of clemency to benefit long time allies and associates (Pictures: AP/EPA)

Donald Trump has pardoned another 26 people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone, in the latest wave of clemency to benefit long time associates and supporters.

The US president also issued a pardon for Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

Mr Trump, taking advantage of a right granted by the Constitution only to the president, has granted clemency to nearly 50 people in the last week and more pardons are anticipated as he faces the end of his time in the White House on January 20.

The list from the last two days includes not only multiple people convicted in the Russia investigation but also allies from Congress and other felons whose causes were championed by friends.

The announcement came just after Mr Trump arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season, with Jared Kushner accompanying him on the Air Force One flight.

Pardons are common in the final stretch of a president’s tenure, the recipients largely dependent on the individual whims of the nation’s chief executive.

Mr Trump throughout his administration has shucked aside the conventions of the Obama administration, when pardons were largely reserved for drug offenders not known to the general public, and instead bestowed clemency on high-profile contacts and associates who were key figures in an investigation that directly concerned him.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. Trump is traveling to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One (Picture: AP)

Even members of the president’s own party raised eyebrows, with Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska issuing a brief statement that said: ‘This is rotten to the core.’

The pardons of Manafort and Stone, who months earlier had his sentence commuted by Trump, were particularly notable, underscoring the president’s desire to chip away at the results and legacy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

He has now pardoned four people convicted in that investigation, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Andrew Weissmann, who helped prosecute Manafort tweeted: ‘The pardons from this President are what you would expect to get if you gave the pardon power to a mob boss.’

epa08901974 (FILE) - Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort departs the federal court house after a status hearing in Washington, DC, USA, 14 February 2018 (reissued 24 December 2020) According to media reports, US Presidnet Donald Trump issued a pardon to Paul Manafort, his former campaign chariman, who was convicted on several felony counts as part of the Special Councel Investigation. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort (Picture: EPA)
FILE - In this Thursday, June 27, 2019 file photo, Paul Manafort arrives in court in New York. President Trump's former campaign manager is to be arraigned on state mortgage fraud charges. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020 issued pardons and sentence commutations for 29 people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest burst of clemency in his final weeks at the White House. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Manafort arrives in court in New York (Picture: AP)

Manafort, who led Trump’s campaign during a pivotal period in 2016 before being ousted over his ties to Ukraine, was among the first people charged as part of the Mueller investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

He was later sentenced to more than seven years in prison for financial crimes related to his political consulting work in Ukraine, but was released to home confinement last spring because of coronavirus concerns in the federal prison system.

Though the charges against Manafort did not concern the central thrust of Mueller’s mandate – whether the Trump campaign and Russia colluded to tip the election – he was nonetheless a pivotal figure in the investigation.

His close relationship to a man US officials have linked to Russian intelligence, and with whom he shared internal campaign polling data, attracted particular scrutiny during the investigation, though Mueller never charged Manafort or any other Trump associate with conspiring with Russia.

Manafort, in a series of tweets, thanked Trump and lavished praise on the outgoing president, declaring that history would show he had accomplished more than any of his predecessors.

Both Manafort and Stone were scolded by judges for effectively thumbing their nose at the criminal justice system as their cases were pending.

Manafort was accused of witness tampering even after he was indicted and was accused by prosecutors of lying while trying to earn credit for cooperation.

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 15, 2019 file photo, Roger Stone exits federal court Washington. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020 issued pardons and sentence commutations for 29 people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest burst of clemency in his final weeks at the White House. Also receiving a pardon is Roger Stone, another longtime Trump associate caught up in the probe of Russia and the Trump campaign. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Roger Stone pictured leaving federal court Washington (Picture: AP)

Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress about his efforts to gain inside information about the release by WikiLeaks of Russia-hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign, was similarly censured because of his social media posts.

In a statement Wednesday, Stone thanked Trump and alleged that he had been subjected to a ‘Soviet-style show trial on politically-motivated charges’.

Kushner is the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and a wealthy real estate executive who pleaded guilty years ago to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.

Mr Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009.

FILE - In this March 4, 2005 file photo, Charles B. Kushner, flanked by his wife, Seryl Beth, left, and his attorney Alfred DeCotiis arrives at the Newark Federal Court for sentencing in Newark, N.J. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020 issued pardons and sentence commutations for 29 people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest burst of clemency in his final weeks at the White House. (AP Photo/Marko Georgiev, File)
Charles Kushner pictured arriving at the Newark Federal Court for sentencing (Picture: AP)
epa08430706 Jared Kushner, left, looks on as US President Donald J. Trump and as Scott Turner, Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, left, makes remarks as they participate in a meeting on Opportunity Zones in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 18 May 2020. EPA/Doug Mills / POOL
Jared Kushner, left, with President Trump at a White House meeting (Picture: EPA)

Prosecutors allege that after Kushner discovered that his brother-in-law was cooperating with authorities, he hatched a revenge and intimidation scheme.

They say he hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have a secret recording of the encounter in a New Jersey motel room sent to his own sister, the man’s wife.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has called it ‘one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes’ he ever prosecuted as US attorney.

Mr Trump’s legally troubled allies were not the only recipients of clemency.

The list also included people whose pleas for forgiveness have been promoted by people supporting the president throughout his term in office, among them former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Others granted clemency included a former county commissioner in Florida who was convicted of taking gifts from people doing business with the county and a community leader in Kentucky who was convicted of federal drug offenses.

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