President Trump is expected to issue between 50 and 100 commutations and pardons before leaving office this week, two sources familiar with the list told Fox News.
The sources told Fox News that the announcement of the pardons is likely to come in a large batch on Tuesday, but there is a small chance that the White House will wait to make them official on Wednesday morning. The president has until noon on Wednesday to do so.
TRUMP PROBLEM NEW WAVE OF FORGIVES, THREE SWITCHES
Fox News learned that there was a meeting at the White House on Sunday afternoon to finalize the growing list of pardons and commutations.
Despite an aggressive WikiLeaks campaign to try to secure a pardon for its founder Julian Assange, the president should not give him one.
The Justice Department said Assange should stand trial on 18 charges, brought by the Obama administration in 2010, centered on a conspiracy to violate government computers and violate the Espionage Law. The charges could lead to a maximum of 175 years in prison.
Fox News also learned that rapper Lil Wayne should be on the list, while former Trump associate Steve Bannon is described as “TBD”.
Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, pleaded guilty in 2020 to a federal district court for illegally carrying a loaded gold-plated .45 caliber gun while traveling to Florida on a private jet in 2019. The contents of the Carter also included small amounts of cocaine, ecstasy and oxycodone, according to the US attorney.
Bannon, a former Trump adviser and architect of his 2016 campaign, was arrested on charges of fraud over the summer. Bannon pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan after being indicted with three others who were accused of defrauding donors for the $ 25 million online fundraising campaign known as “We Build the Wall”.
Bannon, 66, was charged with one charge of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud and one charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Bannon was released on $ 5 million bail.
THE PRESIDENT TRUMP GRANTED MULTIPLE HIGH PROFILES
The president issued a series of pardons and high-level commutations during his administration.
Last month, the president pardoned former California Republican MP Duncan Hunter, who was sentenced to 11 months in prison and three years probation after pleading guilty to a corruption charge, as was former Republican MP Chris Collins, who was sentenced to 26 months in prison for securities fraud.
Trump also pardoned former campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, who was convicted of making false statements during Mueller’s investigation.
The White House said on Tuesday that Papadopoulos was accused of a “crime related to the process”, although “Mueller said in his report that he found no evidence of collusion in relation to Russia’s attempts to interfere in the elections”.
The president also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, who also pleaded guilty to lying to Mueller’s investigators and was sentenced to 30 days in prison.
And just before Christmas, the president forgave more than two dozen other individuals – including his 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and adviser Roger Stone – both prosecuted and convicted in Mueller’s investigation.
Trump commuted Stone’s sentence in July, but gave him full forgiveness last month.
Before Thanksgiving, the president forgave his former White House national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who also pleaded guilty twice to making false statements as part of Mueller’s investigation.
However, the charge was investigated after the release of FBI documents that suggested a plot to make him lie.
“What is our goal?” read one of the FBI notes. “Truth / Admission or making you lie, so that we can sue you or get you fired?”
Following these revelations, the Trump Justice Department decided to drop its case against Flynn, but encountered obstacles after the DC Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Flynn’s appeal to force US District Judge Emmet Sullivan to drop his criminal case in August.
Also last month, Trump forgave Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who was convicted and sentenced to two years for preparing false income tax returns, retaliating against witnesses and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and Margaret Hunter, ex-congressman Hunter’s wife. Ms. Hunter pleaded guilty in 2019 to a charge of conspiracy to misuse campaign funds for personal expenses and was sentenced to three years probation.
Marisa Schultz, Morgan Phillips, Lucas Manfredi, Julius Young, Hollie McKay and the Fox News Associated Press contributed to this report.