""Nothing on Trump's scale has ever happened at any point in American history, period. Full stop, not debatable," says Frank Bowman, an emeritus law professor."
""Every one of my clients is being approached by these scumbags. They say who they're friends with. It's often White House counsel. And they ask for a million dollars and another million dollars if it's successful.""
In their first years, Presidents Clinton, Obama, Bush, and Biden issued no pardons, while Trump pardoned one person. In his second term, Trump granted clemency to high-profile individuals, including Rod Blagojevich and George Santos, and pardoned around fifteen hundred January 6th defendants. This unprecedented rate of clemency has led to a pay-to-play economy, where pardon seekers pay significant fees to lobbyists claiming connections to the President. A criminal-defense lawyer noted that clients are approached by individuals seeking large sums for potential pardons, despite White House denials of such practices.
Read at The New Yorker
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