Advertisement

Trump Pardons Steve Bannon, Lil Wayne And Dozens More

U.S. President Donald Trump granted clemency to 143 people, including former aides, party loyalists and even a rapper early Wednesday morning, just hours before he was set to leave office.

The list of those granted clemency includes:

  • Former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was facing trial and a possible conviction for his role in a coordinated scheme to fleece the president’s supporters with a border wall fundraiser.

  • Kwame Kilpatrick, the disgraced former mayor of Detroit.

  • Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws.

  • Ken Kurson, the former editor of the New York Observer and a close friend of son-in-law Jared Kushner.

  • Rapper Lil Wayne, who was prosecuted on federal weapons charges.

  • Kodak Black, in prison on federal weapons charges.

  • Anthony Levandoswki, convicted of stealing trade secrets related to self-driving cars.

  • Former U.S. House representative Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), convicted of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering.

The list did not include any members of the Trump family or other notable figures whose names had come up in recent speculation about pardons, such as Rudy Giuliani, Julian Assange or Edward Snowden.

The president’s new list of pardons and commutations comes just weeks after he pardoned dozens of other allies, including his friend and confidant Roger Stone, his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared.

Other allies of Trump who have received pardons in the final weeks of his presidency include former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, who both pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, denounced Trump’s decision to pardon Manafort, calling the president “lawless until the bitter...

Continue reading on HuffPost