President Donald Trump pardoned 73 people and commuted the sentences of 70 others during his last hours as president. The additional 73 pardons announced today double the number of people Trump forgave during his presidency.
Trump’s list of people with mercy does not include his family or himself, although it has been speculated that he might try to do so. Trump’s notable pardons announced today include former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and rapper Lil Wayne, while documentary star Joe Exotic did not receive the pardon he expected.
The president is the only person with the power to forgive someone. Forgiveness applies to federal criminal convictions, but not state crimes. Although forgiveness is usually granted to people who have been convicted of a federal crime, forgiveness can also cover conduct that has not yet resulted in legal action.
In addition, forgiveness does not suggest that the person is innocent of the offense for which he or she is being forgiven, but exempts him from the crime, as well as restores any rights that had been rescinded due to his federal conviction.
Below is a list of the people forgiven by Trump, as announced on his last day as president, January 20, 2021.
List of people forgiven by President Donald Trump today
- Todd Boulanger – Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest service fraud
- Abel Holtz – Pleaded guilty to preventing a grand jury investigation
- Representative Rick Renzi – Convicted of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and extortion
- Kenneth Kurson – accused of virtual harassment
- Casey Urlacher – Accused of conspiracy to engage in illegal gambling
- Carl Andrews Boggs – Pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges
- James E. Johnson, Jr. – Pleaded guilty to charges related to migratory birds
- Tommaso Buti – accused of financial fraud
- Glen Moss – pleaded guilty to unspecified charges
- Anthony Levandowski – Pleaded guilty to a single criminal charge arising from civil litigation
- Aviem Sella – Indicated by espionage
- Michael Liberty – Convicted of campaign funding violations and later charged with related crimes
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- Greg Reyes – Convicted of securities fraud
- Jeffrey Alan Conway – no reason provided
- Benedict Olberding – Convicted of bank fraud
- Syrita Steib-Martin – Convicted of using fire to commit a crime
- Eric Wesley Patton – Convicted of making a false statement on a mortgage application
- Robert William Cawthon – Convicted of making a false statement in a bank loan application
- Hal Knudson Mergler – Convicted of conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute and distribute lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
- Gary Evan Hendler – Convicted of conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances
- John Harold Wall – Convicted of helping and encouraging possession with the intention of distributing methamphetamine
- Steven Samuel Grantham – Convicted of stealing a vehicle
- Clarence Olin Freeman – Convicted of operating an illegal whiskey distillery
- Fred Keith Alford – Convicted of Firearm Violation
- Alex Adjmi – Convicted of a financial crime
- Elliott Broidy – Convicted of conspiracy to serve as an unregistered agent for a foreign director
- Stephen K. Bannon – Accusations related to fraud arising from his involvement in a political project
- Douglas Jemal – Convicted of fraud
- Dr. Scott Harkonen – Convicted of fraud
- Johnny D. Phillips, Jr. – Convicted of conspiracy to commit electronic and mail fraud
- Dr. Mahmoud Reza Banki – Accusations for making false statements
- John Nystrom – Failure to alert competent authorities when he learned that a subcontractor was receiving double payments for work performed
- Gregory Jorgensen, Deborah Jorgensen, Martin Jorgensen (posthumous forgiveness for Martin Jorgensen) – Convicted of selling incorrectly branded meat
- Jessica Frease – Convicted of converting stolen checks and trading them at the bank where she worked as a cashier
- Robert Cannon “Robin” Hayes – serving 1 year probation for making a false statement in the course of a federal investigation
- Thomas Kenton “Ken” Ford – pleaded guilty to making a material misstatement for federal mining officials
- Scott Conor Crosby – Participated in a coworker’s plan to commit a bank robbery
- Lynn Barney – Bearing a firearm as a previously convicted criminal after being previously convicted of distributing a small amount of marijuana
- Joshua J. Smith – Conspiracy to own drugs with intent to distribute
- Amy Povah – A Drug Offense
- Dr. Frederick Nahas – Pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing justice in a health investigation
- David Tamman – Manipulated financial documents
- Dr. Faustino Bernadett – Failed to report a hospital kickback scheme
- Paul Erickson – Accused of a small financial crime
- Todd Farha, Thaddeus Bereday, William Kale, Paul Behrens, Peter Clay – Criminally prosecuted for a state regulatory issue involving reporting expenses to a state health agency
- David Rowland – A violation of the Clean Air Act
- Randall “Duke” Cunningham (conditional pardon) – Taking bribes while in public office
- Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., also known as Lil Wayne – Pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon
- Stephen Odzer (conditional pardon) – Found guilty of conspiracy and bank fraud
- Steven Benjamin Floyd – Pleaded guilty to bank robbery charges for extortion
- Joey Hancock – Convicted of possession conspiracy to distribute controlled substance
- David E. Miller – pleaded guilty to one charge of making a false statement to a bank
- James Austin Hayes – Convicted of conspiracy to commit insider trading
- Drew Brownstein – convicted of insider trading
- Robert Bowker – pleaded guilty to violation of the Lacey Act, which prohibits wildlife trafficking
- Amir Khan – Found guilty of electronic fraud
- Patrick Lee Swisher – Convicted of tax fraud and false statements
- Robert Sherrill – Convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine
- Dr. Robert S. Corkern – convicted of bribery of federal program
- David Lamar Clanton – Convicted of false statements and related charges
- George Gilmore – Convicted of not paying payroll taxes and false statements
- Desiree Perez – conspiracy to distribute narcotics
- Robert “Bob” Zangrillo – accused of connection to the Varsity Blues investigation
- Hillel Nahmad – Convicted of a sports game crime
- Brian McSwain – An unspecified drug crime
- John Duncan Fordham – convicted on health care fraud charges
- William “Ed” Henry – assisting and encouraging theft of government property