The batch of 73 pardons and 70 commutations issued in the final hours of his presidency was expected and is in line with a long presidential tradition of exercising clemency at the last minute.
The list reflected a president interested in granting pardons to his strong allies, an unusual number of whom were involved in allegations of corruption or lying.
One concern was Bannon’s possible connection to the rebellion of Trump supporters at the United States Capitol on January 6, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
Throughout Tuesday, Trump continued to contemplate pardons that advisers believed had been settled, including for his former strategist. The president continued to come and go about it on Tuesday night, sources told CNN.
Other names included on Tuesday were Elliott Broidy, a former major fundraiser for the Trump campaign who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge related to a secret lobbying campaign to influence the Trump administration on behalf of a foreign billionaire in exchange for millions of dollars.
Trump also offered clemency to Paul Erickson, the conservative politician and ex-boyfriend of alleged Russian spy Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty to charges of electronic fraud and money laundering; Robin Hayes, a North Carolina political donor convicted of trying to bribe officials; Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, convinced of federal charges, including extortion, extortion and filing false tax returns; William Walters, a professional sports player condemned for insider trading; and Aviem Sella, an Israeli air force officer the United States has accused of being a spy.
Bob Zangrillo, the Miami developer and venture capitalist accused in the Varsity Blues college admission scandal, also received a pardon. None of the other parents caught in the investigation were forgiven.
Although neither Trump nor members of his family were included on his list, Trump has until midday on Wednesday to issue any final pardon before leaving office.
Last minute confusion
Trump’s final acts of clemency come after a dispute in recent days between criminal justice reform advocates and several White House officials to finalize the list and convince Trump to approve the actions. These pardons will undoubtedly be overshadowed by the huge amount of controversial pardons that Trump also issued in the same final batch on Tuesday.
Although presidents who step down normally forgive before stepping down, Trump was more willing to use his forgiving power to blatantly reward political loyalty, the wealthy and well-connected and those who did not cooperate with the special attorney’s investigation Robert Mueller.
After the riot, advisers encouraged Trump to renounce his own forgiveness because it would appear that he was guilty of something, according to a person familiar with the talks. Several of Trump’s closest advisers have also asked that he not grant leniency to anyone involved in the U.S. Capitol siege, despite Trump’s initial position that those involved have done nothing wrong.
Focus again on forgiveness
After weeks of focusing on contesting the election and recovering from the consequences of the January 6 uprising, Trump has finally turned his attention to forgiveness in recent days, a source said.
“You couldn’t make the president focus on that,” said a source close to the Trump case in recent weeks. “And then, this weekend, he didn’t have his Twitter, he didn’t have all those other distractions.”
Trump, who has sunk further into lame duck status in recent weeks, has been reminded that his forgiving power is one of the remaining aspects of his presidential power.
This source said Trump also resonated with cases in which individuals on trial received significantly more time in prison than co-defendants who cooperated with law enforcement.
“I don’t think he likes it when people use tools just because they go to trial,” said this source.
Although Jared Kushner has been closely involved in pardons throughout his time at the White House, this source said that Ivanka Trump has been much more closely involved in the pressure for pardons in the past few days.
Together, Kushner and Ivanka Trump worked with the White House attorney’s office and the Justice Department, while also working to convince Trump to support a series of leniency actions in line with criminal justice reform.
After meetings this weekend, Trump met again with his daughter, son-in-law and other White House officials on Monday to finalize the list of leniency actions.