"A federal jury needed just two hours to return a guilty verdict for former Las Vegas councilwoman Michele Fiore for pocketing some $70,000 in donations to build a memorial for police officers killed in the line of duty and spending it instead on herself, including rent and her daughter's wedding. Then, weeks before Fiore was scheduled to be sentenced in May 2025, President Trump granted her a full, unconditional pardon."
"Fiore is one of at least 15 former elected officials and their co-conspirators who were either charged with or convicted of corruption offenses and then pardoned by Trump after he returned to office last year. Legal experts say the pardons are but one way the Trump administration has undermined the fight against public corruption."
"“There are all sorts of things that the administration has done that suggest an increasingly casual perspective on public corruption,” said Dan Greenberg, a senior legal fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute. “Pardons are an important piece of that puzzle.” Another piece is the dismantling of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, which was created after Watergate to investigate and prosecute public corruption and election crimes."
"Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault said that taken together, the administration's actions send a signal that it doesn't think corruption should be treated seriously. “There's kind of a disdain for the very idea that corruption is a problem,” Briffault said. “They're acting as if corruption is simply not an issue, and people who were convicted of corruption were unfairly treated.”"
A federal jury returned a guilty verdict for former Las Vegas councilwoman Michele Fiore after finding she pocketed about $70,000 in donations intended for a memorial for fallen police officers and spent the money on herself, including rent and her daughter’s wedding. Weeks before her scheduled May 2025 sentencing, President Trump granted her a full, unconditional pardon. Fiore is among at least 15 former elected officials and co-conspirators charged with or convicted of corruption offenses who received pardons after Trump returned to office. Legal experts say the pardons and other actions, including dismantling the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section created after Watergate, signal a casual or dismissive approach to public corruption.
#presidential-pardons #public-corruption #justice-department-enforcement #political-accountability #legal-experts
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