Donald Trump to grant clemency to allies, family members before leaving office

US President Donald Trump is
expected to use his power to grant clemency to his convenience as he considers
sweeping pardons to his allies before leaving the office.

This comes after US
Department of Justice is investigating an alleged bribery scheme to buy
presidential pardon.

Last month, Trump pardoned
former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had claimed responsibility
for lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about contacts with the
Russian ambassador to Washington.

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The White House referred to
Flynn as an “innocent man” in a statement.  It described the retired US Army three-star
lieutenant general as the “victim of partisan government officials engaged in a
coordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016.”

Trump has granted clemency 45
times, including 29 pardons and 16 commutations as of November 26.
Surprisingly, Trump has used his power the least number of times since US
President William McKinley.

Seeing this trend, a CNN
report suggested that Trump might extend his power to protect his allies and
family member for any prosecution in the future, even though they haven’t been
charged with any crime yet.

Here’s a list of people Trump might be considering to bring
under his cloak of protection:  

Donald Trump: This is
not the first time Trump has thought of pardoning himself. In 2018, he shared a
tweet that said, “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the
absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done
nothing wrong?”

Rudy Guiliani: During Trump’s
impeachment hearings, US envoy Gordon Sondland testified that Trump and his
personal lawyer Guiliani had sought a ‘quid-pro-quo’ with Ukraine. Trump
administration is accused of holding back $400 million in military aid to Ukraine
while they are pressurising the country to launch an investigation into Jow
Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner: The couple served
advisory rols in the White House and assisted Trump in his campaign. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has been
scrutinizing over finances of the Trump Organization and real estate business
of Trump’s family for a criminal investigation, but has not found anything concrete.

Donald Trump Jr. And Eric Trump: They
looked over Trump’s business and campaigns. In October, Eric Trump sat for a
deposition as part of an investigation into Trump Organisation by New York
Attorney General Letitia James. In 2019, Trump paid $2 million worth of damages
after a New York judge ordered it for misusing funds from his tax-exempt
charity to finance his political campaign in 2016. He was sued by James for
using funds from Donald J. Trump Foundation, which got closed in 2018, for
personal gains.

Paul Manafort: Trump’s former campaign chairman has
been in prison for financial crimes involved in Russian investigation. The long-time Republican Party campaign consultant is a
convicted tax and bank fraudster.