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August 18, 2020
Should we all try to guess who will be the "very, very important" person that Prez Trump is planning to pardon?
The question in the title of this post is prompted by this Reuters piece headlined "Trump says he will pardon a 'very important' person on Tuesday." Here are the details:
President Donald Trump said on Monday he would pardon a “very, very important” person on Tuesday, but added it would not be leaker Edward Snowden or former national security adviser Michael Flynn. “Doing a pardon tomorrow on someone who is very, very important,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
He declined to offer further details except to say it was not Flynn nor Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency contractor now living in Russia who has been charged with leaking secret information.
On Saturday, Trump said he was considering a pardon for Snowden, who gave a trove of secret files in 2013 to news organizations that disclosed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the NSA. Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia’s then-ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. The U.S. Justice Department has sought to dismiss the case against Flynn following pressure from Trump and his allies.
Last month, Trump used his presidential power to commute the sentence of longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying under oath to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
I am wondering if Prez Trump is maybe just going to pardon someone whom he previously only gave a sentence commutation, such as Stone or Rod Blagojevich or maybe Marie Johnson. But doing so would not really be that exciting after this Trumpian tease, so I really wonder who is the next person to be getting Trump's golden clemency ticket.
Any guesses (serious of joking), dear readers?
August 18, 2020 at 01:15 AM | Permalink
Comments
Himself
Posted by: Ed Dougherty | Aug 18, 2020 5:48:29 AM
Well, we do know that he won't be pardoning his fomer attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen!
Posted by: James J. Gormley | Aug 18, 2020 8:50:14 AM
The answer is now public! President Trump has postumously pardoned Susan B. Anthony, who was convicted of voting illegally in the 19th century, when only men could vote legally.
Posted by: James J. Gormley | Aug 18, 2020 10:52:21 AM
Ms. Anthony is eternally greatful for this pardon.
Posted by: anon1 | Aug 18, 2020 1:44:32 PM
Is it too late to guess that he will pardon Asange?
Posted by: restless94110 | Aug 18, 2020 3:15:13 PM
Wondering who is next on the pardon list? Most of the really good historical candidates had state offenses (not that it probably matters to President Trump).
Given how infrequently pardons are given to the living, it is rather depressing to see that the big pardon announcement was giving a pardon to a long deceased person.
Posted by: tmm | Aug 18, 2020 4:38:26 PM
