Let the pardons proceed! President Donald Trump spent Tuesday selecting presidential pardon recipients and while he did tab 15 people for pardons, his number of selections is still far behind former presidents.
Heading into Tuesday, Trump had granted 27 requests for pardons, adding in the 15 so far this week Trump has now granted 42. In comparison, Barack Obama granted 212 and George W. Bush granted 189.
Among those pardoned were Republican Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York, former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas and current state representative, Phil Lyman of Utah. Lyman was convicted of leading an ATV protest through restricted native lands.
Trump also announced pardons for allies of his that were caught up in the Russia investigation. One of those included his 2016 campaign advisor, George Papadopoulos. He also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators that were working for special counsel Robert Mueller.
Van Der Zwaan and Papadopoulos are the third and fourth Russia investigation defendants to be granted clemency. Former national security advisor Michael Flynn and Trump associate Roger Stone were previously pardoned.
The White House released a statement along with the pardons and when laying out information about the release of Papadopoulos said, “Today’s pardon helps correct the wrong that Mueller’s team inflicted on so many people.”
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s kids, and Trump himself were not among the pardons, despite months of speculation they would be.
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