Schiff Cries Foul After Trump Pardons 15 People
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California lashed out at President Donald Trump after he announced several pardons this week.
Trump pardoned 15 people Tuesday, including a pair of former congressional Republicans, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia “collusion” probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.
The president also commuted the sentences of five people, including former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas.
Those pardoned included former Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York, two of the earliest GOP lawmakers to back Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Trump to be president, was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison Jan. 17 after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had failed.
Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison March 17 after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds and spending the money on everything from outings with friends to his daughter’s birthday party.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the pardons for Hunter and Collins were granted after “the request of many members of Congress.” She noted that Hunter served the nation in the U.S. Marines and saw combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Trump also announced pardons for two people entangled in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
One was for 2016 campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his interactions with a Maltese professor who claimed to have learned that the Russian government had Hillary Clinton’s emails. Clinton was Trump’s Democratic opponent in the 2016 election.
“Notably, Mueller stated in his report that he found no evidence of collusion in connection with Russia’s attempts to interfere in the election,” the White House said in a statement. “Nonetheless, the Special Counsel’s team still charged Mr. Papadopoulos with this process-related crime. …
“Today’s pardon helps correct the wrong that Mueller’s team inflicted on so many people.”
The president also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators during the Mueller probe.
Van der Zwaan and Papadopoulos are the third and fourth Russia investigation defendants granted clemency. By pardoning them, Trump once again took aim at Mueller’s inquiry.
The pardons drew criticism from Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and an outspoken foe of the president’s.
The congressman said on Twitter that the pardons proved that “Trump is corrupt to the end.”
Trump can pardon those convicted of lying for him, but it doesn’t change the facts:
Trump and his campaign asked for help from the Russians, welcomed that help, made full use of it, and then lied to cover it up.
But it does prove one more thing: Trump is corrupt to the end.
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) December 23, 2020
Last month, Trump pardoned former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and months earlier he commuted the sentence of another associate, Roger Stone, days before he was to report to prison.
Trump has granted about 2 percent of requested pardons in his single term in office — a total of 27 before Tuesday’s announcement. By comparison, Barack Obama granted 212 or 6 percent, and George W. Bush granted 189 or about 7 percent.
Among those the president pardoned Tuesday were four former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more than a dozen Iraqi civilians dead and caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone.
Supporters of Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, the former contractors at Blackwater Worldwide, had lobbied for pardons, arguing that the men had been excessively punished in an investigation and prosecution they said was tainted by problems and withheld exculpatory evidence. All four were serving lengthy prison sentences.
“These veterans were working in Iraq in 2007 as security contractors responsible for securing the safety of United States personnel,” the White House said in a statement. “When the convoy attempted to establish a blockade outside the ‘Green Zone,’ the situation turned violent, which resulted in the unfortunate deaths and injuries of Iraqi civilians.
“Initial charges against the men were dismissed, but they were eventually tried and convicted on charges ranging from first degree murder to voluntary manslaughter. On appeal, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that additional evidence should have been presented at Mr. Slatten’s trial.
“Further, prosecutors recently disclosed — more than 10 years after the incident — that the lead Iraqi investigator, who prosecutors relied heavily on to verify that there were no insurgent victims and to collect evidence, may have had ties to insurgent groups himself.”
The pardons reflected Trump’s apparent willingness to give the benefit of doubt to American service members and contractors when it comes to acts of violence in war zones.
Last November, he pardoned a former U.S. Army commando who was set to stand trial next year in the killing of a suspected Afghan bombmaker and a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans.
Also among those pardoned by Trump was Phil Lyman, a Utah state representative who led an ATV protest through restricted federal lands.
Lyman was serving as a Utah county commissioner in 2014 when he led about 50 ATV riders in a canyon where there are Native American cliff dwellings that officials had closed to motorized traffic.
The ride occurred during a sputtering movement in the West pushing back against federal control of large swaths of land.
Lyman spent 10 days in prison and was ordered to pay nearly $96,000 in restitution. The Trump administration in 2017 lifted a ban on motorized vehicles in parts of the canyon but left restrictions in place through other areas where Lyman led his ride.
Two former U.S. Border Patrol agents were also pardoned. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean had been convicted of shooting and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler near El Paso, Texas, in 2005.
Others on the list included a Pittsburgh dentist who pleaded guilty to health care fraud, two women convicted of drug crimes and Alfred Lee Crum, now 89, who pleaded guilty in 1952 when he was 19 to helping his wife’s uncle illegally distill moonshine.
Crum served three years of probation and paid a $250 fine.
The White House said Crum has maintained a clean record and a strong marriage for nearly 70 years, attended the same church for 60 years, raised four children and regularly participated in charity fundraising events.
On Wednesday, Trump granted clemency to former campaign manager Paul Manafort, adviser Roger Stone and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.
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The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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