WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump offered rare and kind words to his successor in a farewell video, although he did not call him by name, while he spent his last full day in office preparing to deliver a flood of pardons at a White House almost deserted, surrounded by an extraordinary security presence outside.
“This week, we inaugurated a new government and we pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,” Trump said in the “farewell speech” video released by the White House this afternoon. “We extend our best wishes. And we also want them to be lucky. A very important word. “
Trump, who spent months trying to delegitimize President-elect Joe Biden’s victory with baseless allegations of mass electoral fraud, made reference to the “next government” but declined to pronounce Biden’s name. Many of Trump’s supporters continue to believe that the election was stolen from him, although a long list of judges, Republican state officials and even Trump’s own administration have said there is no evidence to support that claim.
Trump is also expected to spend his final hours granting clemency to up to 100 people, according to two people informed about the plans. The list of pardons and commutations is expected to include names unknown to the American public – ordinary people who have spent years languishing in prison – as well as politically connected friends and allies like those he forgave in the past.
Trump spent much of the speech trumpeting what he sees as his greatest achievements, including efforts to normalize relations in the Middle East, the development of coronavirus vaccines and the creation of a new Space Force.
“We did what we came here to do – and more,” he said in the nearly 20-minute speech.
Trump has remained virtually out of sight since his supporters broke into the Capitol building earlier this month, trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. The advisers encouraged him to spend his last days in office taking part in a series of events to polish the legacy. But Trump, who remains consumed by anger and complaints about his defeat in the elections, largely refused. He has not been seen in public since last week, when he traveled to Texas for one last photo opportunity on the border wall that he pressed so firmly during his presidency. In the end, he was less than 45 minutes on the floor and spoke just 21 minutes.
Trump is due to leave Washington on Wednesday morning and is planning a big farewell event at nearby Andrews Joint Base. Once there, he will board Air Force One for the last time, flying to Florida and becoming the first president to step down in more than a century to skip his successor’s tenure.
Trump also refused to participate in any of the symbolic traditions of passing the torch that have been the pillars of the peaceful transition of power from one government to another. He is boycotting not only the ceremony at the Capitol, but he has also started to invite the Bidens to the White House for a knowledge meeting. And it remains unclear whether he will write a personal welcome letter to Biden, like the one he received from former President Obama when he moved.
Denied his megaphone on Twitter and with little else planned, Trump attended several meetings over the long weekend to discuss pending leniency actions, according to a White House official, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity because the action had not yet been made public.
Trump was personally involved in the effort to sift through the requests, mainly from primary drug offenders sentenced to life in prison, rejecting some requests and giving the green light to others, according to one of the people involved in the effort. Also playing an important role is the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, who personally met with advocates, analyzed cases and took them to the Justice Department and the pardon lawyer.
Jessica Jackson, a lawyer and criminal justice advocate who has worked with the administration, said she came to Ivanka Trump with the case of Darrell Frazier, who served more than 29 years of life without parole for his role in a drug conspiracy. While in prison, he founded a nonprofit foundation in Tennessee that teaches tennis to 100-200 children a week.
“I heard your story and brought it to Ivanka,” said Jackson. “As soon as she heard the story, she took it to the DOJ and the pardon attorney.”
Trump was expected to move forward with additional pardons and commutations earlier this month, but discussions were suspended after the Capitol insurrection by pro-Trump rioters incited by the president’s impetuous and unfounded electoral challenges. This threw the already paralyzed White House into even greater chaos.
Since then, Trump has suffered a second impeachment and a sense of caution has settled in, with the president’s inner circle fearing to do anything that could provoke a Senate conviction that would potentially prevent him from taking office again.
That would reduce any chance of a 2024 comeback race that Trump hoped would at least fuel the rumors of a campaign to stay relevant and a Republican Party kingmaker. Trump’s advisers nervously watched the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell denounce the president’s words that sparked the riot; if McConnell, who has not signaled how he will vote at the trial, chooses to convict, enough Republicans can do the same to expel Trump, who does not have his Twitter account to keep his adopted party on the line.
A long list of Trump officials has already packed their offices and left the White House, leaving the West Wing deserted – a maze of empty offices and bare walls – surrounded by an unprecedented security apparatus with National Guard troops, military vehicles and posts control measures destined to stavard out more violence.
Moving trucks were seen in Florida on Monday arriving at Trump’s private club in Mar-a-Lago.
While defenders and prisoners await Trump’s clemency decisions, it is unclear whether Trump will forgive Steve Bannon, his former strategist, or offer preventive damages to his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, his adult children and or even himself – unknown legal territory .
Bannon was accused of cheating thousands of investors who believed their money would be used to fulfill Trump’s main campaign pledge to build a wall along the southern border. Instead, Bannon is accused of embezzling more than a million dollars, paying a campaign officer salary and personal expenses for himself.
Giuliani said on his Sunday radio show that, although he feared that prosecutors might “try to frame me,” he is “willing to take that risk.”
“I don’t need forgiveness. I don’t commit crimes, ”he said.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who speaks frequently with Trump, said on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures program that there are also “many people” asking the president to forgive those who participated in the attack on the Capitol building – appeals that he asked the president to quickly reject.
“I don’t care if you went there and scattered flowers on the floor, you violated Capitol security, you interrupted a joint session of Congress, you tried to intimidate us all. You should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and seeking forgiveness from these people would be wrong, ”he said. He warned that such a move “would destroy President Trump and I hope we don’t go that way.”
In addition to the bold names, Trump’s list should include people whose cases have been defended by criminal justice reform advocates. These are people like Chris Young, who was sentenced to life in prison for drug charges over federal minimum sentences and whose case was defended by reality show star Kim Kardashian West.
“Our nation is not well served by spending millions of taxpayer dollars burying living people under outdated federal drug laws,” said its attorney, Brittany K. Barnett, who is a co-founder of the Buried Alive Project, a justice reform advocacy group. criminal.
Trump has already forgiven several associates and longtime supporters, including his former campaign president, Paul Manafort; her son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner; his longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.