Trump pardons 15, commutes 5 sentences, including GOP allies

Dec 23, 20200

Associated Press count

FILE - In this July 19, 2016 file photo, Rep. Chris Collins, R-NY. speaks in Cleveland. Collins was indicted on charges that he used inside information about a biotechnology company to make illicit stock trades. The charges were announced and the indictment unsealed on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including a pair of congressional Republicans who were strong and early supporters, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.

Trump's actions in his final weeks in office show a president who is wielding his executive power to reward loyalists and others who he believes have been wronged by a legal system he sees as biased against him and his allies. Trump issued the pardons - not an unusual act for an outgoing president - even as he refused to publicly acknowledge his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20.

Trump is likely to issue more pardons before then. He and his allies have discussed a range of other possibilities, including members of Trump's family and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

https://www.startribune.com/trump-pardons-15-commutes-5-sentences-including-gop-allies/600003670/