President Donald Trump bypassed regular channels in commuting the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and pardoning others, including former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik and former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, says former U.S. pardon attorney Margaret Love.
“I’m particularly troubled … that the White House has admitted this time that the president bypassed the Justice Department,” Love said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Dan Abrams Show.”
“I think this is the first time they’ve actually admitted it. I knew because I could see that the people he had pardoned had not applied through the ordinary process. In this case of the 11 grants, I think nine of them were not reflected at all on the docket of the pardon attorney. But the White House said, ‘No the president did not use the regular process.’ So that’s clear. But that means that ordinary people are not going to have a chance.”
Trump cited advice from friends and business associates when granting the clemencies.
Current Illinois Gov. Current Gov. J.B. Pritzker in a statement said his constituents had “endured far too much corruption, and we must send a message to politicians that corrupt practices will no longer be tolerated.”
He added: “President Trump has abused his pardon power in inexplicable ways to reward his friends and condone corruption, and I deeply believe this pardon sends the wrong message at the wrong time."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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