The bundle of 73 pardons and 70 commutations issued in the last hours of his presidency was expected to be in line, and it is in line with a long-standing presidential tradition of exercising powers of grace at the last minute.
The list reflects a president who is eager to pardon his stalwart allies, who are unusually accused of corruption or lies.
One concern was Bannon’s possible connection to the riot of Trump supporters on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
Over the course of Tuesday, Trump continued to consider pardons that, according to their assistants, had been settled, including for his former strategist. The president went back and forth about it Tuesday night, sources told CNN.
Other names included on Tuesday were Elliott Broidy, a former fundraiser for Trump’s campaign, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy linked to a secret lobbying campaign to influence the Trump administration on behalf of a foreign billionaire in exchange for millions dollars.
Trump also brought mercy to Paul Erickson, the conservative political operator and former enemy of the alleged Russian spy Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges; Robin Hayes, a North Carolina political donor convicted of burglary; Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is convicted of federal charges, including racketeering, extortion and filing false tax returns; William Walters, a professional sports gambler convicted of insider trading; and Aviem Sella, an Israeli air force official who accused the US of being a spy.
Bob Zangrillo, the Miami developer and venture capitalist charged in the Varsity Blues admissions scandal, also received a pardon. None of the other parents caught in the investigation were pardoned.
Although Trump or members of his family were on his list, Trump has until Wednesday afternoon to issue a final waiver before leaving office.
Last minute scrambled
Trump’s last acts of mercy come after a scuffle in recent days among criminal justice advocates and several White House officials to finalize the list and persuade Trump to approve the actions. This pardon will no doubt be overshadowed by the multitude of controversies that Trump also issued in the same final series on Tuesday.
While outgoing presidents usually issue apologies before leaving office, Trump is more willing to use his forgiving power to generously reward political loyalty, the rich and well-connected and those who did not cooperate with Special Councilman Robert Mueller’s investigation .
According to a person familiar with the talks, advisers have urged Trump to refrain from apologizing because he appears to be guilty of something. Several of Trump’s closest advisers also urged him not to show anyone involved in the siege of the U.S. Capitol, despite Trump’s initial stance that those involved did nothing wrong.
Refocus on forgiveness
After a few weeks of focusing on contesting the election and curbing the fall of the uprising on January 6, Trump has finally returned to pardon for the past few days, one source said.
“You could not get the president to focus on that,” a source close to the process said over the past few weeks about Trump. “And then he didn’t have his Twitter over the weekend, and not all these other distractions.”
Trump, who has sunk deeper into the crippled duck in recent weeks, has been reminded that his forgiveness power is one of the remaining aspects of his presidential power.
According to this source, Trump also found appeal in cases where individuals who were tried received significantly more prison sentences than co-accused who cooperated with law enforcement.
“I do not think he likes it when people screw up just because they are being tried,” this source said.
While Jared Kushner was closely involved in pardons during his time in the White House, this source said that Ivanka Trump has become much more closely involved in the pressure to pardon in recent days.
Together, Kushner and Ivanka Trump collaborated with the White House office and the Department of Justice, while also working to persuade Trump to support a series of pardon actions in the vein of criminal law reform.
After meetings over the weekend, Trump met again Monday with his daughter, son-in-law and other White House officials to finalize the list of mercy actions.