motherjones--2020-11-23--In a Blow to Trump, Michigan’s Canvassing Board Certifies Election Results

A majority of the Michigan Board of Canvassers voted on Monday to certify the state ’ s election results , defying pressure from President Trump and national and state Republicans to delay certification .
“ We have a clear legal duty to certify the results of the election , ” said Aaron Van Langevelde , who works for Michigan House Republicans and is one of two GOP members of the board .
“ There ’ s nothing in the law that gives me the authority to request an audit to delay or block certification.
” While the board is purely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is legally obligated to certify county results , the other GOP member of the board , Norm Shinkle , abstained from certifying .
On Monday , two high-ranking figures from the Obama Justice Department wrote in the Detroit Free Press that voting against certification could be a felony under the Voting Rights Act ’ s prohibition on those who “ willfully fail or refuse to tabulate , count , and report ” legal votes .
The board ’ s move is a blow to President Trump ’ s latest long-shot strategy to overturn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to delay certification in key states and create an environment where Republican state legislators appoint their own Trump electors to nullify the will of the voters .
The president hosted the GOP leaders of Michigan ’ s legislature at the White House on Friday .
He has tweeted that GOP legislatures should have “ the COURAGE to do what has to be done to maintain the integrity of our Elections.
” Michigan ’ s certification comes just days after Georgia ’ s Republican secretary state and governor certified their state for Biden .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wisconsin are expected to follow suit in the coming days , locking in Biden ’ s victory .
This week ’ s certifications follow Trump having already lost more than thirty post-election cases in court , often in embarrassing fashion .
The bid to convince GOP legislatures to overturn the will of the voters was likely bound to fail .
State and local election officials—not legislatures—are in charge of certifying election results .
Electors are appointed , according to state laws , based on the winner of the state popular vote .
Under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if voters have “ failed to make a choice.
” But Michigan ’ s voters clearly chose Biden , where he won by 154,000 votes .
In a marathon hearing conducted by the board on Monday , local election officials from all over the state passionately testified in favor of certification .
“ A failure to certify these election results will send a message that democracy is dying in Michigan , ” said Barb Byrum , the clerk of Ingham County .

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A majority of the Michigan Board of Canvassers voted on Monday to certify the state’s election results, defying pressure from President Trump and national and state Republicans to delay certification.
Michigan’s voters clearly chose Biden.
“We have a clear legal duty to certify the results of the election,” said Aaron Van Langevelde, who works for Michigan House Republicans and is one of two GOP members of the board. “There’s nothing in the law that gives me the authority to request an audit to delay or block certification.” While the board is purely “ministerial” under state law and is legally obligated to certify county results, the other GOP member of the board, Norm Shinkle, abstained from certifying. On Monday, two high-ranking figures from the Obama Justice Department wrote in the Detroit Free Press that voting against certification could be a felony under the Voting Rights Act’s prohibition on those who “willfully fail or refuse to tabulate, count, and report” legal votes.
The board’s move is a blow to President Trump’s latest long-shot strategy to overturn Joe Biden’s victory by seeking to delay certification in key states and create an environment where Republican state legislators appoint their own Trump electors to nullify the will of the voters. The president hosted the GOP leaders of Michigan’s legislature at the White House on Friday. He has tweeted that GOP legislatures should have “the COURAGE to do what has to be done to maintain the integrity of our Elections.”
Michigan’s certification comes just days after Georgia’s Republican secretary state and governor certified their state for Biden. Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, and Wisconsin are expected to follow suit in the coming days, locking in Biden’s victory. This week’s certifications follow Trump having already lost more than thirty post-election cases in court, often in embarrassing fashion.
The bid to convince GOP legislatures to overturn the will of the voters was likely bound to fail. State and local election officials—not legislatures—are in charge of certifying election results. Electors are appointed, according to state laws, based on the winner of the state popular vote. Under federal law, legislatures can only intervene if voters have “failed to make a choice.” But Michigan’s voters clearly chose Biden, where he won by 154,000 votes.
In a marathon hearing conducted by the board on Monday, local election officials from all over the state passionately testified in favor of certification. “A failure to certify these election results will send a message that democracy is dying in Michigan,” said Barb Byrum, the clerk of Ingham County.


motherjones--2020-11-23--Will Trump’s Accusers Finally Get Their Day in Court?

One chilly afternoon in November 2019 , a process server stepped through the gold-rimmed doors of Trump Tower on New York ’ s Fifth Avenue to deliver a copy of an explosive lawsuit and a court summons to President Donald Trump .
In those papers , E. Jean Carroll declared that Trump had raped her in a department store dressing room in late 1995 or early 1996 .
Carroll , a veteran advice columnist at Elle magazine and one of at least 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct since the 1970s , claimed that Trump had subsequently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her , accused her of fabricating her story to sell books , and insulted her appearance in statements to reporters .
She was now suing him for defamation , demanding a retraction and damages .
“ Nobody in this nation is above the law , ” her complaint began .
“ Nobody is entitled to conceal acts of sexual assault behind a wall of defamatory falsehoods and deflections.
” But before her claims could be heard in a New York state court , Trump needed to be served .
First , the process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Service checkpoint .
Then he spoke to the concierge , who called upstairs to a legal office before refusing to accept the documents .
The server tried to leave the sheaf of papers and head back toward the lobby ’ s golden doors , but Secret Service officers stopped him , ordered him to take the papers , and kicked him out .
One officer said they had instructions to keep process servers from leaving documents with the concierge , according to an affidavit .
Three subsequent attempts to serve papers at Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ended similarly .
For nearly four years , Trump has wielded the office of the presidency as a shield against lawsuits from women who have accused him of sexually assaulting them before his election .
“ It started the moment the lawsuit was filed , ” Carroll ’ s lawyer , Roberta Kaplan , says in an email .
Trump claimed presidential immunity in state court , argued that he couldn ’ t be sued in New York because of his temporary residence in the White House , and had the Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he ’ s lost his office to President-elect Joe Biden , Trump is facing the prospect of finally having to deal with both Carroll ’ s claim and a similar defamation lawsuit filed in New York by former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos .
Legal experts say that both women ’ s cases could proceed quickly once Trump returns to civilian life .
And that means the soon-to-be-former president could imminently face the question of either settling their claims or going to trial over the truth of their allegations .
Zervos first began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks of his 2016 campaign , after he claimed that he had never sexually assaulted women in the way he had bragged in the Access Hollywood tape .
Zervos alleged that Trump had kissed her , groped her breast , and thrust his genitals on her without consent during two 2007 meetings to discuss job opportunities .
Trump denied it all , as well as the allegations of other accusers who told their stories in 2016 , tweeting that they were “ 100 % fabricated and made-up.
” Zervos sued him for defamation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few days before his inauguration .
Since then , Zervos ’ case has “ lingered in the courts for a significantly longer time than you would typically expect of a defamation lawsuit , ” says Amy Kristin Sanders , a media law expert and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin .
Again , Trump ’ s office protected him .
A few months after Zervos filed her case , Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz debuted an argument he has since returned to repeatedly , insisting that the Constitution prevents a sitting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Zervos ’ lawsuit should be dismissed , he argued in a motion , because “ a state court can not control President Trump—who uniquely embodies the Executive Branch—or interfere with his ability to perform his duties.
” Neither the trial court judge nor a state appeals court was convinced .
( Nor was the US Supreme Court when Trump tried to block a grand jury from subpoenaing his tax records using a very similar argument . )
“ Though he is tasked with significant responsibilities , the President is still a person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law , ” wrote Justice Dianne Renwick of the New York Appellate Division , First Judicial Department .
By appealing those decisions again and again , Trump was able to keep delaying Zervos ’ lawsuit—and , crucially , to put off being deposed by her lawyers .
During a pretrial deposition , Trump would “ certainly ” be asked under oath about whether he sexually assaulted Zervos , Sanders says .
Plus , any deposition is an unwelcome prospect for a legal team whose client has a well-established inability to keep his mouth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loose cannon , ” she says .
“ You have no idea what he ’ s going to say .
You have no idea what he could open himself up to.
” ( Neither Zervos ’ nor Trump ’ s lawyers responded to requests for comment . )
For now , Zervos ’ case is on hold while the Court of Appeals , New York ’ s highest court , considers Kasowitz ’ s presidential immunity argument .
Yet once Trump is no longer a sitting president , Kaplan predicts , the court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , on the other hand , isn ’ t just seeking to depose Trump ; she wants to get a DNA sample .
Shortly after she filed her lawsuit ( a judge ultimately permitted her to serve Trump by mail ) , her legal team asked a lab to look for genetic material on a black Donna Karan dress she says she was wearing when Trump allegedly raped her .
The results turned up unidentified male DNA , which , if matched to Trump , could help convince a jury that her allegations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analyzing DNA from one of Trump ’ s relatives , Kaplan says her team ’ s experts have concluded that a sample from Trump ’ s niece , Mary , would not be useful .
Kaplan also is representing Mary Trump in a fraud lawsuit against her uncle . )
Trump tried to get Carroll ’ s lawsuit put on hold until New York ’ s high court ruled on presidential immunity—and once again , a judge declined .
But as Trump faced the prospect of handing over a cheek swab last fall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At the request of the White House , DOJ lawyers argued that Carroll ’ s suit rightfully should be against the United States government , not Trump personally , because he was acting within the scope of his employment when he called her a liar and said she was “ not my type.
” In other words , taxpayer-funded lawyers were trying to help the president avoid facing his accuser in court .
Barbara McQuade , a former US attorney , explained at the time that this is a “ fairly routine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in work-related cases that do not involve the president , such as a mail carrier who is sued after an accident involving a postal truck .
If the DOJ ’ s move had succeeded , Carroll ’ s lawsuit would have been dismissed since the United States can ’ t be sued for defamation .
So far , the gambit hasn ’ t worked .
On October 26 , a federal judge ruled that the president didn ’ t count as a government employee—and even if he did , Trump ’ s statements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The DOJ has 60 days to appeal that ruling , according to Kaplan .
Regardless , it will soon be up to Biden ’ s administration to decide whether the government continues intervening on Trump ’ s behalf .
“ Trump now has , essentially , a law firm called the Department of Justice working for him personally , ” says Bruce Johnson , a First Amendment lawyer .
“ That is one of the advantages that he will not have after January 20 , 2021.
” Defamation lawsuits are , at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If a statement is true , it can not be defamatory .
That means if either of these cases proceeds to trial , courtroom arguments will center on whether Trump was telling the truth when he called Zervos and Carroll liars—and whether they can convince jurors that Trump assaulted them .
If they win , both women want Trump to retract his statements and pay damages .
“ Anytime you have a defamation lawsuit , we always have to look at the incidents that underlie the alleged defamatory statements , ” Sanders says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will hinge on how much evidence is there that they didn ’ t lie , that these incidents actually took place.
” According to Kaplan , Carroll is open to a settlement only if it allows her to keep talking and writing about what Trump allegedly did to her .
Settling the cases once he leaves office might be an appealing option for Trump , who could make them go away outside the glare of the campaign spotlight .
“ He ’ s a guy who will always promise that he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when push comes to shove , he will cough up money to settle , ” Johnson says , pointing to the federal fraud lawsuit against Trump University .
Leah Litman , an assistant law professor at the University of Michigan , sees it another way .
“ I honestly don ’ t think he would worry about the political fallout , ” she says .
“ I think he thinks attacking these women is good for him.
” For now , Carroll ’ s case is proceeding .
“ Once he is no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more time to devote to responding to the discovery requests in our case , including producing his documents , providing a DNA sample , and having his deposition taken , ” Kaplan says .
“ We look forward to moving ahead with our case .
”

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One chilly afternoon in November 2019, a process server stepped through the gold-rimmed doors of Trump Tower on New York’s Fifth Avenue to deliver a copy of an explosive lawsuit and a court summons to President Donald Trump.
In those papers, E. Jean Carroll declared that Trump had raped her in a department store dressing room in late 1995 or early 1996. Carroll, a veteran advice columnist at Elle magazine and one of at least 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct since the 1970s, claimed that Trump had subsequently smeared her when he denied he knew her, accused her of fabricating her story to sell books, and insulted her appearance in statements to reporters. She was now suing him for defamation, demanding a retraction and damages. “Nobody in this nation is above the law,” her complaint began. “Nobody is entitled to conceal acts of sexual assault behind a wall of defamatory falsehoods and deflections.”
But before her claims could be heard in a New York state court, Trump needed to be served. First, the process server made his way through a Secret Service checkpoint. Then he spoke to the concierge, who called upstairs to a legal office before refusing to accept the documents. The server tried to leave the sheaf of papers and head back toward the lobby’s golden doors, but Secret Service officers stopped him, ordered him to take the papers, and kicked him out. One officer said they had instructions to keep process servers from leaving documents with the concierge, according to an affidavit. Three subsequent attempts to serve papers at Trump Tower and one at the White House ended similarly.
For nearly four years, Trump has wielded the office of the presidency as a shield against lawsuits from women who have accused him of sexually assaulting them before his election. “It started the moment the lawsuit was filed,” Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, says in an email. Trump claimed presidential immunity in state court, argued that he couldn’t be sued in New York because of his temporary residence in the White House, and had the Department of Justice intervene on his behalf.
Now that he’s lost his office to President-elect Joe Biden, Trump is facing the prospect of finally having to deal with both Carroll’s claim and a similar defamation lawsuit filed in New York by former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos. Legal experts say that both women’s cases could proceed quickly once Trump returns to civilian life. And that means the soon-to-be-former president could imminently face the question of either settling their claims or going to trial over the truth of their allegations.
“Trump now has, essentially, a law firm called the Department of Justice working for him personally.”
Zervos first began speaking out about Trump in the last weeks of his 2016 campaign, after he claimed that he had never sexually assaulted women in the way he had bragged in the Access Hollywood tape. Zervos alleged that Trump had kissed her, groped her breast, and thrust his genitals on her without consent during two 2007 meetings to discuss job opportunities. Trump denied it all, as well as the allegations of other accusers who told their stories in 2016, tweeting that they were “100% fabricated and made-up.” Zervos sued him for defamation over that claim and similar statements a few days before his inauguration.
Since then, Zervos’ case has “lingered in the courts for a significantly longer time than you would typically expect of a defamation lawsuit,” says Amy Kristin Sanders, a media law expert and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Again, Trump’s office protected him. A few months after Zervos filed her case, Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz debuted an argument he has since returned to repeatedly, insisting that the Constitution prevents a sitting president from being sued in state court. Zervos’ lawsuit should be dismissed, he argued in a motion, because “a state court cannot control President Trump—who uniquely embodies the Executive Branch—or interfere with his ability to perform his duties.” Neither the trial court judge nor a state appeals court was convinced. (Nor was the US Supreme Court when Trump tried to block a grand jury from subpoenaing his tax records using a very similar argument.) “Though he is tasked with significant responsibilities, the President is still a person, and he is not above the law,” wrote Justice Dianne Renwick of the New York Appellate Division, First Judicial Department.
By appealing those decisions again and again, Trump was able to keep delaying Zervos’ lawsuit—and, crucially, to put off being deposed by her lawyers. During a pretrial deposition, Trump would “certainly” be asked under oath about whether he sexually assaulted Zervos, Sanders says. Plus, any deposition is an unwelcome prospect for a legal team whose client has a well-established inability to keep his mouth shut. “He’s a loose cannon,” she says. “You have no idea what he’s going to say. You have no idea what he could open himself up to.” (Neither Zervos’ nor Trump’s lawyers responded to requests for comment.)
For now, Zervos’ case is on hold while the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, considers Kasowitz’s presidential immunity argument. Yet once Trump is no longer a sitting president, Kaplan predicts, the court will likely dismiss his appeal.
“I think he thinks attacking these women is good for him.”
Carroll, on the other hand, isn’t just seeking to depose Trump; she wants to get a DNA sample. Shortly after she filed her lawsuit (a judge ultimately permitted her to serve Trump by mail), her legal team asked a lab to look for genetic material on a black Donna Karan dress she says she was wearing when Trump allegedly raped her. The results turned up unidentified male DNA, which, if matched to Trump, could help convince a jury that her allegations were true. (Dispelling speculation about analyzing DNA from one of Trump’s relatives, Kaplan says her team’s experts have concluded that a sample from Trump’s niece, Mary, would not be useful. Kaplan also is representing Mary Trump in a fraud lawsuit against her uncle.)
Trump tried to get Carroll’s lawsuit put on hold until New York’s high court ruled on presidential immunity—and once again, a judge declined. But as Trump faced the prospect of handing over a cheek swab last fall, the Department of Justice swooped in. At the request of the White House, DOJ lawyers argued that Carroll’s suit rightfully should be against the United States government, not Trump personally, because he was acting within the scope of his employment when he called her a liar and said she was “not my type.” In other words, taxpayer-funded lawyers were trying to help the president avoid facing his accuser in court. Barbara McQuade, a former US attorney, explained at the time that this is a “fairly routine thing” for the feds to do—generally in work-related cases that do not involve the president, such as a mail carrier who is sued after an accident involving a postal truck.
If the DOJ’s move had succeeded, Carroll’s lawsuit would have been dismissed since the United States can’t be sued for defamation. So far, the gambit hasn’t worked. On October 26, a federal judge ruled that the president didn’t count as a government employee—and even if he did, Trump’s statements about Carroll weren’t employment-related. The DOJ has 60 days to appeal that ruling, according to Kaplan. Regardless, it will soon be up to Biden’s administration to decide whether the government continues intervening on Trump’s behalf. “Trump now has, essentially, a law firm called the Department of Justice working for him personally,” says Bruce Johnson, a First Amendment lawyer. “That is one of the advantages that he will not have after January 20, 2021.”
Defamation lawsuits are, at least in theory, about the truth: If a statement is true, it cannot be defamatory. That means if either of these cases proceeds to trial, courtroom arguments will center on whether Trump was telling the truth when he called Zervos and Carroll liars—and whether they can convince jurors that Trump assaulted them. If they win, both women want Trump to retract his statements and pay damages. “Anytime you have a defamation lawsuit, we always have to look at the incidents that underlie the alleged defamatory statements,” Sanders says. “Fundamentally, this defamation case will hinge on how much evidence is there that they didn’t lie, that these incidents actually took place.” According to Kaplan, Carroll is open to a settlement only if it allows her to keep talking and writing about what Trump allegedly did to her.
Settling the cases once he leaves office might be an appealing option for Trump, who could make them go away outside the glare of the campaign spotlight. “He’s a guy who will always promise that he’s going to fight a case, but when push comes to shove, he will cough up money to settle,” Johnson says, pointing to the federal fraud lawsuit against Trump University. Leah Litman, an assistant law professor at the University of Michigan, sees it another way. “I honestly don’t think he would worry about the political fallout,” she says. “I think he thinks attacking these women is good for him.”
For now, Carroll’s case is proceeding. “Once he is no longer president, Donald Trump should have more time to devote to responding to the discovery requests in our case, including producing his documents, providing a DNA sample, and having his deposition taken,” Kaplan says. “We look forward to moving ahead with our case.”


motherjones--2020-11-24--What’s Next for the #Resistance Now That They Don’t Have Trump to Kick Around Anymore?

“ You ’ ll see the signs : ) , ” Megan Bartlett had texted me as I looked for her house in Geneva , Illinois , a 20,000-person town about an hour west of Chicago .
The note seemed vague to the point of useless until I arrived .
In a maze of massive greige colonials , Bartlett ’ s stuck out : It was the only one bedecked with campaign signs for various local Democratic candidates .
It was a Sunday morning in October 2018 , and I was reporting on Rep. Lauren Underwood , a nurse turned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unseat the district ’ s Republican representative .
Bartlett , a 34-year-old music teacher , had been described to me as “ the organizing brain and communications expert ” of the grassroots supporting Underwood ’ s bid .
When I entered Bartlett ’ s home , I met half a dozen women gathered at the dining room table for breakfast before a day of door-knocking for Democratic candidates .
Most of the organizers were a bit older than Bartlett , each of them white , and all , like Bartlett , had become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s 2016 victory .
Over plates of eggs , bacon , and scones , I peppered them with questions about Underwood ’ s prospects .
But they were more eager to tell me about what was happening down ballot—the candidates for county board , school board , and sheriff in Kane County , where Geneva is the seat .
“ Lauren ’ s race is really important , ” Tina Willson told me .
“ The reality is she ’ s not really the one who affects our day-to-day lives as much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Ballad of the Resistance goes something like this : Trump ’ s win sparked the political consciences of a particular slice of American women—often white , privileged , and well educated .
They marched , lobbied Congress to push back against Trump , and , when that failed , flipped House seats , including the one Underwood won .
Four years later , there ’ s a Democrat heading to the White House , and the Democratic House majority remains in place .
But for women like Bartlett , the bigger change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Across the country , the women radicalized by Trump ’ s election have followed a path similar to the one that Bartlett and her fellow neophyte organizers have taken : They ’ ve reinforced the local Democratic infrastructure , built a bench of new Democratic officeholders , and channeled the fury of the anti-Trump movement into their local communities—and have done so in the face of local parties and elected officials ( usually men ) who dismissed their efforts as fleeting or frivolous .
Harvard sociologist and political scientist Theda Skocpol found that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ formed since the 2016 election , a number that doesn ’ t account for women who have simply become key players in local Democratic politics .
Lara Putnam , a historian at the University of Pittsburgh who has collaborated with Skocpol in tracking the resurgence of women ’ s grassroots activism , says that although Trump was the spark , the work in their own communities is what will keep these activists going .
“ People have become very involved in these networks that have carried new people into office and party positions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keeps me confident that they ’ re going to stay engaged isn ’ t the attention to the national level—it ’ s the way they ’ re involved in local and regional politics now.
” When Bartlett was growing up , her family never talked politics , and she had no idea who her parents voted for .
That wasn ’ t uncommon in Kane County , one of the five suburban “ collar counties ” outside Chicago .
Its population is 86 percent white , and many residents are “ Republican by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Bartlett ’ s house told me .
Conversations about politics were considered impolite—as was placing political signs in front of their houses .
Accordingly , most of the women gathered around Bartlett ’ s table hadn ’ t known each other before Clinton ’ s loss .
They were among those who had shuffled , devastated and disoriented , to their local Democratic Party meeting and the first gatherings of myriad local # Resist groups that materialized overnight .
Among the throngs of the newly enraged , the women identified one another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the long haul .
“ We started finding people who were doing things—like , actually , doing things—as opposed to just complaining about Trump , ” Willson says .
They began meeting every Thursday for drinks after the weekly Kane County Democrats meeting .
Bartlett ’ s first foray had been a Women ’ s March Huddle she started with a friend from high school after they attended the main march in Chicago .
Someone had brought an Indivisible guide—the viral how-to for constituents to hold their members of Congress accountable—and they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many chapters .
But Bartlett quickly realized she was much more interested in local politics .
“ The only thing you have control over , really , is your own neighborhood , ” she says .
A friend ran as a write-in candidate for the local library board and won .
Her campaign was the first time most of them had ever canvassed , and to their shock and delight , she won .
They filled out the ranks of Democratic precinct committee people , going door to door in their neighborhoods .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea because no one has ever knocked on my door , ” Bartlett tells me , who in 2018 became secretary of the Kane County Democrats .
Others decided to run for office themselves , angling for county board .
Some of the Resistance newcomers Bartlett worked with closely took paid roles in the reelection campaigns this year of Underwood and Rep. Sean Casten in the district next door .
That bridge strengthened the relationship between the new activists and the longtime Democratic Party hands who had initially viewed the grassroots with suspicion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s house recalled a man in charge of the local party saying , “ We ’ re still going to be the ones who are here when you guys all get tired of it and go.
” But they didn ’ t go , and the old guard has come to both trust the newcomers and appreciate how they ’ ve helped the party grow .
In March , Bartlett received an award from the party chair for her exceptional volunteerism .
These women also began translating national issues into local action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s allies , works with a group called Fox Valley Activists , which like many others founded in early 2017 , served as “ a place to grieve more than anything else , initially , ” Merrington says .
The group led local Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd ’ s killing , joined a community conversation with the local chapter of the NAACP , and fought to get a public housing development in Geneva .
Merrington says she ’ d always been involved in “ big picture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve come full circle to realize that local stuff—it ’ s just as impactful in daily lives than the national stuff.
” “ That ’ s a really common thread to all of these [ activists ] , ” says Amanda Litman , the founder of Run for Something .
“ They use their national anger to focus on local issues.
” Three weeks before the 2020 election , I caught up again with Bartlett ’ s group , this time over Zoom , when their story felt like it was rushing toward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County , for the first time , had a full slate of Democrats running for every local position but coroner .
All but one of the candidates running for county-wide positions were women , and they were being supported by a woman-heavy army of volunteers .
Merrington was managing the state house campaign of Martha Paschke , a friend of hers from Fox Valley Activists .
Bartlett could hardly keep up with the requests for yard signs for Democrats ; a shipment of 2,000 had been depleted nearly as soon as it had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Day didn ’ t match their expectations .
Karina Villa , the Democrat who they helped to win an Illinois House seat in 2018 , would end up flipping a state Senate seat .
Underwood eked out a narrow victory .
The Kane County Board flipped from majority Republican to Democratic control , and the county board chairmanship also switched from red to blue .
But Paschke , Merrington ’ s candidate , lost , and the victories had been narrow , results that left Bartlett and her circle dumbfounded .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little fantasy world of like , there ’ s going to be another blue wave and we ’ re gon na just sweep all our races , ” she says .
“ I guess the reality is the voters just aren ’ t there , ” Merrington mused .
What does the future hold for these groups with Trump off the ballot ?
They ’ ll keep going , as Putnam says , on the strength of the structures and relationships they forged .
“ People have built a habit , especially these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ties around political engagement and activism , ” Litman says .
“ That ’ s what infrastructure is—it ’ s those relationships .
Those relationships built over the last four years don ’ t go away after Election Day.
” But that isn ’ t to say that losing Trump won ’ t have some kind of demobilizing effect—particularly on the army of volunteers required to carry out the thankless work democracy requires .
White women-led political movements from the past offer some clues as to how these movements evolve and sustain themselves—or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Elizabeth McRae says that the 20th century Southern segregationist women she studied just kept finding new outlets for their values : opposition to school integration , for example , flowed into opposition to sex education .
Stacie Taranto , a historian at Ramapo College , tells me the white Catholic women who fought to stop the Equal Rights Amendment and access to abortion stopped organizing once their platform found a home within the Republican Party .
“ People tend to organize in the face [ of ] what they see as a threat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a historian at Claremont McKenna College who studied liberal white women ’ s activism in the Boston suburbs during the 1960s and 1970s , pointed to an apt comparison to today ’ s resistance groups : A campaign in Massachusetts that got voters to endorse a state ERA in 1976 , but that withered when activists tried to pivot to welfare rights and universal health care .
“ One of the lessons is that it is often easy to galvanize support and even activism in opposition to something—be it Phyllis Schaflly and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” she tell me .
“ It ’ s harder to sustain suburban activism around causes that don ’ t have a direct impact and are trying to address more material and structural forms of inequality.
” Merrington has seen this play out in her group .
“ Everyone was riled up after Hillary , and then they got riled up after George Floyd , ” she says , “ and then they go back to their daily lives.
” Bartlett similarly recalls meeting a ton of first-time activists in the wake of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , only to reemerge again as volunteers in the final weeks of the 2020 election .
“ Trump was the cause the first time and he is the cause again , ” she says .
“ So if there ’ s no Trump anymore , are we gon na keep getting those volunteers ?
I don ’ t know.
” “ I don ’ t blame them—I ’ m exhausted , ” she adds .
“ I think a lot of other people are exhausted.
” Yet Bartlett has no time to rest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fill out the Democratic slate for the upcoming Board of Education elections and has taken a position with Illinois ’ largest teachers union to exert grassroots pressure on the state legislature .
“ There is one tiny shred of goodness that came out of all of this , ” Bartlett says .
“ And it ’ s really just that ” —she pauses , a satisfied smile emerging— “ I feel like I have so much purpose now .
”

“You’ll see the signs :),” Megan Bartlett had texted me as I looked for her house in Geneva, Illinois, a 20,000-person town about an hour west of Chicago. The note seemed vague to the point of useless until I arrived. In a maze of massive greige colonials, Bartlett’s stuck out: It was the only one bedecked with campaign signs for various local Democratic candidates. It was a Sunday morning in October 2018, and I was reporting on Rep. Lauren Underwood, a nurse turned Obamacare expert waging an underdog bid to unseat the district’s Republican representative. Bartlett, a 34-year-old music teacher, had been described to me as “the organizing brain and communications expert” of the grassroots supporting Underwood’s bid.
When I entered Bartlett’s home, I met half a dozen women gathered at the dining room table for breakfast before a day of door-knocking for Democratic candidates. Most of the organizers were a bit older than Bartlett, each of them white, and all, like Bartlett, had become newly engaged in politics since Donald Trump’s 2016 victory. Over plates of eggs, bacon, and scones, I peppered them with questions about Underwood’s prospects. But they were more eager to tell me about what was happening down ballot—the candidates for county board, school board, and sheriff in Kane County, where Geneva is the seat. “Lauren’s race is really important,” Tina Willson told me. “The reality is she’s not really the one who affects our day-to-day lives as much as a lot of other people.”
The Ballad of the Resistance goes something like this: Trump’s win sparked the political consciences of a particular slice of American women—often white, privileged, and well educated. They marched, lobbied Congress to push back against Trump, and, when that failed, flipped House seats, including the one Underwood won. Four years later, there’s a Democrat heading to the White House, and the Democratic House majority remains in place.
But for women like Bartlett, the bigger change may be on the local front. Across the country, the women radicalized by Trump’s election have followed a path similar to the one that Bartlett and her fellow neophyte organizers have taken: They’ve reinforced the local Democratic infrastructure, built a bench of new Democratic officeholders, and channeled the fury of the anti-Trump movement into their local communities—and have done so in the face of local parties and elected officials (usually men) who dismissed their efforts as fleeting or frivolous.
Harvard sociologist and political scientist Theda Skocpol found that at least 2,500 women-led resistance groups have formed since the 2016 election, a number that doesn’t account for women who have simply become key players in local Democratic politics. Lara Putnam, a historian at the University of Pittsburgh who has collaborated with Skocpol in tracking the resurgence of women’s grassroots activism, says that although Trump was the spark, the work in their own communities is what will keep these activists going. “People have become very involved in these networks that have carried new people into office and party positions,” Putnam says. “What keeps me confident that they’re going to stay engaged isn’t the attention to the national level—it’s the way they’re involved in local and regional politics now.”
When Bartlett was growing up, her family never talked politics, and she had no idea who her parents voted for. That wasn’t uncommon in Kane County, one of the five suburban “collar counties” outside Chicago. Its population is 86 percent white, and many residents are “Republican by habit,” one of the women at Bartlett’s house told me. Conversations about politics were considered impolite—as was placing political signs in front of their houses.
Accordingly, most of the women gathered around Bartlett’s table hadn’t known each other before Clinton’s loss. They were among those who had shuffled, devastated and disoriented, to their local Democratic Party meeting and the first gatherings of myriad local #Resist groups that materialized overnight. Among the throngs of the newly enraged, the women identified one another as those who might stick it out for the long haul. “We started finding people who were doing things—like, actually, doing things—as opposed to just complaining about Trump,” Willson says. They began meeting every Thursday for drinks after the weekly Kane County Democrats meeting.
Bartlett’s first foray had been a Women’s March Huddle she started with a friend from high school after they attended the main march in Chicago. Someone had brought an Indivisible guide—the viral how-to for constituents to hold their members of Congress accountable—and they founded one of the group’s many chapters. But Bartlett quickly realized she was much more interested in local politics. “The only thing you have control over, really, is your own neighborhood,” she says.
A friend ran as a write-in candidate for the local library board and won. Her campaign was the first time most of them had ever canvassed, and to their shock and delight, she won. They filled out the ranks of Democratic precinct committee people, going door to door in their neighborhoods. “This sounds like a pretty good idea because no one has ever knocked on my door,” Bartlett tells me, who in 2018 became secretary of the Kane County Democrats. Others decided to run for office themselves, angling for county board. Some of the Resistance newcomers Bartlett worked with closely took paid roles in the reelection campaigns this year of Underwood and Rep. Sean Casten in the district next door.
That bridge strengthened the relationship between the new activists and the longtime Democratic Party hands who had initially viewed the grassroots with suspicion. One of the women at Bartlett’s house recalled a man in charge of the local party saying, “We’re still going to be the ones who are here when you guys all get tired of it and go.” But they didn’t go, and the old guard has come to both trust the newcomers and appreciate how they’ve helped the party grow. In March, Bartlett received an award from the party chair for her exceptional volunteerism.
These women also began translating national issues into local action. Paula Merrington, one of Bartlett’s allies, works with a group called Fox Valley Activists, which like many others founded in early 2017, served as “a place to grieve more than anything else, initially,” Merrington says. The group led local Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, joined a community conversation with the local chapter of the NAACP, and fought to get a public housing development in Geneva. Merrington says she’d always been involved in “big picture stuff,” but “I’ve come full circle to realize that local stuff—it’s just as impactful in daily lives than the national stuff.” “That’s a really common thread to all of these [activists],” says Amanda Litman, the founder of Run for Something. “They use their national anger to focus on local issues.”
Three weeks before the 2020 election, I caught up again with Bartlett’s group, this time over Zoom, when their story felt like it was rushing toward its inevitable, happy ending. Kane County, for the first time, had a full slate of Democrats running for every local position but coroner. All but one of the candidates running for county-wide positions were women, and they were being supported by a woman-heavy army of volunteers. Merrington was managing the state house campaign of Martha Paschke, a friend of hers from Fox Valley Activists. Bartlett could hardly keep up with the requests for yard signs for Democrats; a shipment of 2,000 had been depleted nearly as soon as it had arrived.
But the outcomes on Election Day didn’t match their expectations. Karina Villa, the Democrat who they helped to win an Illinois House seat in 2018, would end up flipping a state Senate seat. Underwood eked out a narrow victory. The Kane County Board flipped from majority Republican to Democratic control, and the county board chairmanship also switched from red to blue. But Paschke, Merrington’s candidate, lost, and the victories had been narrow, results that left Bartlett and her circle dumbfounded. “I think we were all living in this little fantasy world of like, there’s going to be another blue wave and we’re gonna just sweep all our races,” she says. “I guess the reality is the voters just aren’t there,” Merrington mused.
What does the future hold for these groups with Trump off the ballot? They’ll keep going, as Putnam says, on the strength of the structures and relationships they forged. “People have built a habit, especially these women, and built social groups and ties around political engagement and activism,” Litman says. “That’s what infrastructure is—it’s those relationships. Those relationships built over the last four years don’t go away after Election Day.”
But that isn’t to say that losing Trump won’t have some kind of demobilizing effect—particularly on the army of volunteers required to carry out the thankless work democracy requires. White women-led political movements from the past offer some clues as to how these movements evolve and sustain themselves—or whither away. Western Carolina University professor Elizabeth McRae says that the 20th century Southern segregationist women she studied just kept finding new outlets for their values: opposition to school integration, for example, flowed into opposition to sex education. Stacie Taranto, a historian at Ramapo College, tells me the white Catholic women who fought to stop the Equal Rights Amendment and access to abortion stopped organizing once their platform found a home within the Republican Party. “People tend to organize in the face [of] what they see as a threat,” she says.
Lily Geismer, a historian at Claremont McKenna College who studied liberal white women’s activism in the Boston suburbs during the 1960s and 1970s, pointed to an apt comparison to today’s resistance groups: A campaign in Massachusetts that got voters to endorse a state ERA in 1976, but that withered when activists tried to pivot to welfare rights and universal health care. “One of the lessons is that it is often easy to galvanize support and even activism in opposition to something—be it Phyllis Schaflly and the Stop ERA troops or Trump,” she tell me. “It’s harder to sustain suburban activism around causes that don’t have a direct impact and are trying to address more material and structural forms of inequality.”
Merrington has seen this play out in her group. “Everyone was riled up after Hillary, and then they got riled up after George Floyd,” she says, “and then they go back to their daily lives.” Bartlett similarly recalls meeting a ton of first-time activists in the wake of Trump’s victory who quickly disappeared, only to reemerge again as volunteers in the final weeks of the 2020 election. “Trump was the cause the first time and he is the cause again,” she says. “So if there’s no Trump anymore, are we gonna keep getting those volunteers? I don’t know.”
“I don’t blame them—I’m exhausted,” she adds. “I think a lot of other people are exhausted.” Yet Bartlett has no time to rest. She’s already looking to fill out the Democratic slate for the upcoming Board of Education elections and has taken a position with Illinois’ largest teachers union to exert grassroots pressure on the state legislature.
“There is one tiny shred of goodness that came out of all of this,” Bartlett says. “And it’s really just that”—she pauses, a satisfied smile emerging—“I feel like I have so much purpose now.”


motherjones--2020-11-26--Was Trump’s Pardon of Flynn Part of a Deal?

On November 22 , 2017 , John Dowd , then one of President Donald Trump ’ s lawyers , left a voicemail for Robert Kelner , who was representing Michael Flynn , Trump ’ s former national security adviser .
Trump had fired Flynn for lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in late 2016 , and Dowd suspected , correctly , that Flynn , who was under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller , was about to cut a deal with Mueller .
Dowd asked for a “ heads up , ” if Flynn was giving Mueller information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ referring to the possibility that Flynn would cooperate without giving prosecutors damning information about Trump , Dowd also said , “ remember what we ’ ve always said about the President and his feeling toward Flynn , and all that still remains.
” That sounded like a suggestion that Trump would pardon Flynn if he didn ’ t flip on Trump .
In his April 2019 final report , Mueller cited the voicemail in a section analyzing whether Trump obstructed justice by dangling pardons to former aides being investigated by Mueller .
Dowd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential pardon for Flynn .
“ It ’ s nonsense , ” he said when reached by phone Wednesday , after the news broke that Trump was pardoning Flynn .
“ It ’ s not true .
It ’ s a fucking lie.
” Then he hung up .
Flynn did cooperate without implicating Trump .
Flynn told investigators that Trump was not aware of his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition .
And on Wednesday , Trump gave Flynn that pardon .
The pardon is likely to end an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guilty plea , in which he admitted he had lied to the FBI about his conversations with Kislyak .
In an odd move , Flynn had attempted to withdraw that plea , and his conservative defenders have portrayed him as a victim of a Deep State conspiracy .
In June , at the behest of Attorney General Bill Barr , the Justice Department moved to drop charges against Flynn .
But Emmet Sullivan , the federal judge overseeing the case , has held up that request to scrutinize its legitimacy .
The pardon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Yet some legal analysts critical of Flynn argued Wednesday that Sullivan could hold a hearing on whether the pardon is corrupt and hence illegal .
As part of his plea deal with Mueller , Flynn also admitted to making “ materially false statements and omissions ” in documents he filed with the Justice Department about his lobbying work .
He had stated he was lobbying for a Dutch company , but the true beneficiary of his efforts was the government of Turkey .
Flynn had been lobbying for Turkey while he was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 .
Trump didn ’ t say if his pardon covered Flynn ’ s false statements about his Turkish lobbying .
Flynn has been represented by Sidney Powell , a Texas-based attorney who was abruptly ousted from Trump ’ s legal team on Sunday after appearing at a press conference with Rudy Giuliani and asserting , without presenting any evidence , that Democrats conspired with international corporations , the CIA , and forces in Cuba , Venezuela “ and likely China ” to steal the election from Trump .
Powell also suggested Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , were in on this diabolical scheme .
That may have been too much even for Trump , who was reportedly unhappy with her performance .
But since she became Flynn ’ s lawyer last year , Powell has used Flynn ’ s case to try to bolster Trump ’ s false claims that he and his advisers were improperly spied upon by Obama administration officials .
Her faults as Trump ’ s lawyer were apparently not bad enough to cost her other client his long-awaited pardon .

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On November 22, 2017, John Dowd, then one of President Donald Trump’s lawyers, left a voicemail for Robert Kelner, who was representing Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser. Trump had fired Flynn for lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in late 2016, and Dowd suspected, correctly, that Flynn, who was under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, was about to cut a deal with Mueller.
Dowd asked for a “heads up,” if Flynn was giving Mueller information “that implicates the President.” Apparently referring to the possibility that Flynn would cooperate without giving prosecutors damning information about Trump, Dowd also said, “remember what we’ve always said about the President and his feeling toward Flynn, and all that still remains.”
That sounded like a suggestion that Trump would pardon Flynn if he didn’t flip on Trump. In his April 2019 final report, Mueller cited the voicemail in a section analyzing whether Trump obstructed justice by dangling pardons to former aides being investigated by Mueller.
Dowd denies that he was hinting at a presidential pardon for Flynn. “It’s nonsense,” he said when reached by phone Wednesday, after the news broke that Trump was pardoning Flynn. “It’s not true. It’s a fucking lie.” Then he hung up.
Flynn did cooperate without implicating Trump. Flynn told investigators that Trump was not aware of his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition. And on Wednesday, Trump gave Flynn that pardon.
It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2020
The pardon is likely to end an ongoing legal fight over Flynn’s guilty plea, in which he admitted he had lied to the FBI about his conversations with Kislyak. In an odd move, Flynn had attempted to withdraw that plea, and his conservative defenders have portrayed him as a victim of a Deep State conspiracy. In June, at the behest of Attorney General Bill Barr, the Justice Department moved to drop charges against Flynn. But Emmet Sullivan, the federal judge overseeing the case, has held up that request to scrutinize its legitimacy. The pardon could put an end to this squabbling. Yet some legal analysts critical of Flynn argued Wednesday that Sullivan could hold a hearing on whether the pardon is corrupt and hence illegal.
As part of his plea deal with Mueller, Flynn also admitted to making “materially false statements and omissions” in documents he filed with the Justice Department about his lobbying work. He had stated he was lobbying for a Dutch company, but the true beneficiary of his efforts was the government of Turkey. Flynn had been lobbying for Turkey while he was advising Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016. Trump didn’t say if his pardon covered Flynn’s false statements about his Turkish lobbying.
Flynn has been represented by Sidney Powell, a Texas-based attorney who was abruptly ousted from Trump’s legal team on Sunday after appearing at a press conference with Rudy Giuliani and asserting, without presenting any evidence, that Democrats conspired with international corporations, the CIA, and forces in Cuba, Venezuela “and likely China” to steal the election from Trump. Powell also suggested Republicans in Georgia, which Joe Biden won, were in on this diabolical scheme. That may have been too much even for Trump, who was reportedly unhappy with her performance. But since she became Flynn’s lawyer last year, Powell has used Flynn’s case to try to bolster Trump’s false claims that he and his advisers were improperly spied upon by Obama administration officials. Her faults as Trump’s lawyer were apparently not bad enough to cost her other client his long-awaited pardon.


motherjones--2020-11-25--Not Just Michael Flynn: A Shockingly Long List of Trump’s Controversial Pardons

Versions of this story were published on April 13 , 2020 , and July 10 , 2020 .
Donald Trump has added yet another name to the long list of friends , loyalists , cronies , and conservative celebrities who have received presidential pardons or commutations .
This time the beneficiary is his former national security adviser Michael Flynn , who in 2017 pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in connection with the Trump-Russia scandal .
Weeks into his administration , Trump fired Flynn for lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador .
But in recent years , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Russia investigation was a hoax , has defended and hailed Flynn .
Trump ’ s use—and abuse—of executive clemency has figured prominently in his presidency .
One widely discussed Trump 2020 campaign ad , aired during the Super Bowl , featured Alice Johnson—a Black woman who served 21 years in prison for a nonviolent drug offense before Trump commuted her sentence in 2018 .
“ Thanks to President Trump , people like Alice are getting a second chance , ” the ad stated .
In February , Trump freed several women who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s case is far from typical .
More often , Trump has used his pardon powers to reward political allies , such as Flynn .
Here ’ s a list of right-wing icons , corrupt public officials , accused war criminals , and other controversial figures who have received clemency from Trump .
Stone , a longtime Trump adviser , was convicted of lying to Congress , obstruction , and witness tampering in connection with the Russia investigation .
The Trump connection : Stone ’ s 2019 trial revealed that Trump likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his own role in the scandal , but Stone has remained staunchly loyal to the president .
Trump returned the favor .
He repeatedly sought to intervene on Stone ’ s behalf—publicly berating federal prosecutors , the judge in the case , and even a juror .
Senior Justice Department officials allegedly pressured government attorneys to “ cut Stone a break.
” On July 10 , Trump commuted Stone ’ s sentence , just days before Stone would have been required to report to prison .
During his 24 years as the sheriff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called himself “ America ’ s toughest sheriff ” and became known for his severe treatment of immigrants and the harsh conditions in his county jail .
When a judge ordered him to stop detaining people based solely on suspicion of their immigration status , which amounted to racial profiling , he refused .
In 2017 , he was found guilty of criminal contempt of court for violating that order .
The Trump connection : Arpaio endorsed Trump in January 2016 , citing his stances on immigration and stumping for him in Iowa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fondness for racist conspiracy theories .
At the same time Trump was pushing the false claim that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States , Arpaio sent one of his deputies and a member of his volunteer birther posse to Hawaii to investigate Obama ’ s birth certificate .
At an August 2017 rally in Phoenix , Trump hinted at a pardon .
“ Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job ?
” he said .
“ I ’ ll make a prediction : I think he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , the president followed through .
“ Sheriff Joe is a patriot , ” he declared .
“ Sheriff Joe loves our country .
Sheriff Joe protected our borders .
And Sheriff Joe was very unfairly treated by the Obama administration.
” When Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond were convicted of arson for burning more than 100 acres of federal land , their case became a flashpoint in the fight for control over public lands .
( Witnesses testified the fire was intended to cover up evidence of illegal hunting ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on their own property to burn off invasive species and it accidentally spread . )
“ They have become symbols of the way many rural Americans feel they ’ ve been wronged by federal overreach , ” BuzzFeed News reported .
Their case sparked a 41-day standoff with federal agents at a wildlife refuge in Oregon , led by Ryan and Ammon Bundy .
Many people joining the protest were members of unofficial militias , armed with long guns and pistols and dressed in full tactical gear .
One Arizona rancher was killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Hammonds had support both from right-wing extremists willing to take up arms against government regulation and from a multimillionaire oil magnate .
Forrest Lucas—a GOP megadonor who holds naming rights to the Indianapolis Colts stadium and has close ties to Vice President Mike Pence—made the Hammonds a personal cause as a symbol of his anti-regulation agenda .
Trump pardoned them in July 2018 .
Lucas flew the Hammonds home in his private plane after they were released .
Blagojevich was governor of Illinois in 2008 when then-Senator Barack Obama won the presidency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s successor .
The governor was convicted of trying to shake down a children ’ s hospital and sell Obama ’ s Senate seat .
“ I ’ ve got this thing and it ’ s fucking golden , ” he said on a secretly recorded call , referring to the Senate seat .
“ I ’ m not just giving it up for fucking nothing.
” The Trump connection : Blagojevich appeared on Trump ’ s Celebrity Apprentice reality show after leaving office but before going to prison .
( He was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him , because his “ Harry Potter facts were not accurate.
” ) In recent years , Blagojevich ’ s wife Patti became a regular on Fox News , hoping to catch the president ’ s ear as she pleaded for clemency and shopped the theory that Robert Mueller and James Comey—two of the key law enforcement officials who later investigated the Trump-Russia scandal—were behind her husband ’ s downfall .
( Mueller was head of the FBI at the time of Blagojevich ’ s conviction ; Comey was in private practice .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and now they ’ ve got their sights much higher , ” she said .
Trump commuted Blagojevich ’ s sentence on February 18 , freeing him from prison six years early .
Former Vice President Dick Cheney ’ s chief of staff was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007 in an infamous case involving the disclosure of the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame .
At the time , Plame was married to a diplomat who had accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence to justify the invasion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Comey , who was deputy attorney general at the time , appointed Patrick Fitzgerald—the same US attorney who prosecuted Blagojevich—as special counsel to investigate the Plame scandal .
Bush commuted Libby ’ s sentence in 2007 , allowing him to avoid prison time but leaving the conviction on his record .
Libby ’ s defenders continued to argue that he ’ d been railroaded by overzealous prosecutors , and Trump pardoned him in 2018 .
Victoria Toensing—who was Libby ’ s lawyer , as well as vocal Trump ally and a key player @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Libby was the victim of an “ injustice inflicted on him and his family ” by Comey and Fitzgerald .
The White House gave a similar explanation .
“ Many people think that Scooter Libby was the victim of a special counsel gone amok , ” Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said .
The same day Trump pardoned Libby , he attacked Comey .
Kerik , the former New York City police commissioner under Rudy Giuliani , pleaded guilty in 2009 to eight felonies , including tax fraud and lying to White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Kerik had made “ a conscious decision to essentially lie to the president of the United States to get a cabinet position ” —a reference to the fact that Bush had nominated him in 2004 to serve as Homeland Security secretary .
He served three years in prison .
The Trump connection : Kerik has been a regular on Fox News , where he has suggested House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-Calif. ) and Rep. Adam Schiff ( D-Calif. ) should be arrested over their roles in Trump ’ s impeachment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Giuliani and Fox host Geraldo Rivera were among those who pushed for a Kerik pardon , which Trump granted on February 18 .
Billionaire Michael Milken , once the highest-paid man in the history of Wall Street , helped create the market for junk bonds in the 1980s .
The “ junk bond king ” was charged with insider trading and convicted of securities fraud in 1990 .
He served 22 months in prison .
The Trump connection : Trump pardoned Milken on February 18 .
The president ’ s adviser and son-in-law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s pardon , as did Giuliani , whose US attorney office had prosecuted Milken .
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin—a longtime friend who flew on Milken ’ s private jet last year—pushed for the pardon .
So did Rupert Murdoch , who relied on Milken ’ s services to fuel the growth of News Corp .
According to the White House , the pardon was also supported by GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson , Trump fundraiser and inaugural committee chairman Tom Barrack , Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao , and New England Patriots owner Robert @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Texas construction company , was convicted of underpaying his taxes by nearly $ 500,000 in 2010 .
He was sentenced to three years of probation .
The Trump connection : Pogue ’ s son Ben and daughter-in-law Ashleigh donated more than $ 200,000 to the Trump Victory PAC .
The Daily Beast reported that on the day of their first donation , Ashleigh posted an Instagram photo of the couple posing with Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle , a former Fox News host , in the Hamptons .
The president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was convicted of obstruction of justice and making false statements in 2008 in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal .
( Abramoff pleaded guilty to , among other things , defrauding Native American tribes ) .
Safavian , who was working in George W. Bush ’ s budget office at the time , went on a golf trip to London and Scotland with Abramoff .
Safavian was sentenced to a year in prison .
The Trump connection : Safavian is general counsel at the American Conservative Union , which is chaired by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ formerly the White House director of strategic communications and went on to serve as a spokesperson for Trump ’ s 2020 reelection campaign .
Trump pardoned Safavian on February 18 .
Nolan , a Republican former California state legislator , pleaded guilty in 1994 in an FBI political corruption sting known as “ Shrimpscam , ” in which federal agents pretending to represent a shrimp business offered bribes to lawmakers .
He served 26 months in prison .
He ’ s since become a leading conservative voice on criminal justice reform .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Criminal Justice Reform at the American Conservative Union Foundation .
Nolan was also an influential voice in favor of the First Step Act , a bipartisan criminal justice reform law that Trump sees as one of his signature legislative achievements .
( The measure was highlighted in Trump ’ s Super Bowl ad that featured Alice Johnson . )
Trump pardoned Nolan in May 2019 .
While a sailor in the Navy , Saucier illegally retained photographs he took of classified areas of a nuclear submarine .
He pleaded guilty and was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Trump connection : On the campaign trail in 2016 , Trump frequently referred to Saucier ’ s conviction as an example of punishment for what he deemed a lesser offense than Hillary Clinton ’ s use of a private email server as secretary of State .
He pardoned Saucier in March 2018 .
D ’ Souza—a conservative provocateur and former Reagan adviser—is known for his incendiary articles and films , including ones that have focused on Obama-related conspiracy theories .
He was convicted in 2014 of making illegal campaign contributions to Wendy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York , funneling $ 20,000 through straw donors to evade campaign finance limits .
He was sentenced to five years probation , including eight months of confinement in a community center .
The Trump connection : D ’ Souza claimed that Obama ’ s Justice Department had pursued the case because D ’ Souza had made a movie critical of Obama .
A judge at the time called this theory “ nonsense , ” but it resonated with Trump .
Sen. Ted Cruz ( R-Texas ) was among those who lobbied for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which Trump granted in May 2018 .
Jeanine Pirro , a Fox News host and former judge who is one of Trump ’ s most vocal supporters , applauded it .
Roger Stone cited D ’ Souza ’ s pardon as a signal that Trump had the backs of former aides who had been indicted in the Mueller investigation .
“ It has to be a signal to Mike Flynn and Paul Manafort and even Robert S. Mueller III : Indict people for crimes that don ’ t pertain to Russian collusion and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stone told the Washington Post .
Black was a media mogul who at one point ran the world ’ s third-largest newspaper company , which owned papers such as the Chicago Sun-Times and the Daily Telegraph .
In 2007—in yet another case prosecuted by Patrick Fitzgerald—Black was convicted of obstruction of justice and fraud for swindling his company out of $ 60 million that should have gone to stockholders .
Black served three and a half years in prison , though parts or his conviction were ultimately overturned .
The Trump connection : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump had been expected to testify that Black ’ s wife ’ s $ 62,000 birthday party was a business event , rather than a social gathering—but Black ’ s lawyers changed their minds at the last minute .
In recent years , Black has become a prolific writer of op-eds praising the president , as well as the sycophantic book Donald J. Trump : A President Like No Other .
Rush Limbaugh and Henry Kissinger were among those who pressed Trump to pardon Black ; he did so in May 2019 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for her role in a car theft ring in 2004 .
After serving her two-year prison sentence , she became a television personality and author , starring in a BET docuseries and writing an inflammatory book called Lies of a Real Housewife , alleging that one of the stars of Real Housewives of Atlanta had been part of her “ hustler ’ s life of crime ” years ago .
The Trump connection : Stanton helped push for the First Step Act .
In 2019 , she participated in a Fox News panel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After being pardoned on February 18 , she announced plans to run for Congress as a Republican .
She ultimately lost her race by more than 70 percentage points .
DeBartolo , a former owner of the San Francisco 49ers , was convicted in 1998 of failing to report a $ 400,000 bribe the governor of Louisiana solicited from him .
He was sentenced to two years ’ probation and $ 1 million in penalties .
The Trump connection : DeBartolo supported Trump ’ s presidential campaign and hosted a pre-inauguration party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
DeBartolo is also a local celebrity in his hometown of Youngstown , Ohio .
As Philip Bump wrote in the Washington Post , Trump ’ s pardon of DeBartolo , issued on February 18 , could have been part of his effort to keep Ohio red in 2020 .
Behenna was an Army lieutenant who served five years in prison for the 2008 murder of Ali Mansur , an Iraqi prisoner .
US forces took Mansur into custody after a roadside bomb killed two of Behenna ’ s friends and platoon members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military couldn ’ t conclusively link him to the bombing .
Behenna was supposed to drive Mansur back to his village .
Instead , Behenna stripped him naked , interrogated him without authorization , and fatally shot him .
He later claimed self-defense .
The Trump connection : Fox & Friends—one of Trump ’ s favorite shows—treated Behenna ’ s case favorably and gave Behenna ’ s parents a platform to lobby for a pardon .
Trump pardoned him in May 2019 , freeing him from his parole restrictions five years early .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2018 when he acknowledged having killed an Afghan man in 2010 .
The man was suspected of making bombs and had been ordered to be released after questioning .
According to documents unearthed by the Washington Post in 2015 , an Army investigation found that Golsteyn and other soldiers buried the man ’ s body , dug it up , and then burned it .
Golsteyn ’ s lawyer had told the Post at the time that the documents “ are taken out of context and are biased , ” adding that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he confessed to shooting an unarmed detainee.
” The Trump connection : Pete Hegseth—a Fox & Friends host and a buddy of Trump—lobbied for months on air and off for Trump to intervene in the cases of Golsteyn and two other service members , Eddie Gallagher and Clint Lorance .
Hegseth said that doing so would be “ heartening for guys like me and others in the service.
” Golsteyn ’ s wife , Julie , repeatedly appeared on Fox & Friends with Hegseth to plead her husband ’ s case .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was still awaiting trial .
The next month , Golsteyn appeared on stage at a fundraiser with Trump .
The Daily Beast reported that Trump wanted the accused war criminals he pardoned to campaign for him in 2020 .
Lieutenant Clint Lorance received a 19-year prison sentence for second-degree murder after ordering troops to fire on unarmed Afghan civilians in 2012 .
Two of them died .
The Trump connection : Lorance benefited from Hegseth ’ s campaign to secure Trump ’ s intervention in the cases of convicted and accused war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2019 , freeing him from prison after six years .
Lorance has since praised the president on Fox News and , along with Golsteyn , took the stage at a fundraiser with Trump .
Special Operations Chief Gallagher , a Navy SEAL , was charged with war crimes in 2018 .
He was acquitted of the most serious charges , sentenced to time served , and demoted .
The Trump connection : The case first came to Trump ’ s attention when Bernard Kerik became an advocate for Gallagher ’ s family in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hegseth lobbied hard on behalf of Gallagher .
So did Trump allies Rep. Matt Gaetz ( R-Fla. ) and then-Rep. Duncan Hunter ( R-Calif. ) , who resigned in January after pleading guilty to conspiracy to misuse campaign funds .
Trump didn ’ t grant Gallagher a pardon or commutation , but he did reverse Gallagher ’ s demotion .

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Versions of this story were published on April 13, 2020, and July 10, 2020.
Donald Trump has added yet another name to the long list of friends, loyalists, cronies, and conservative celebrities who have received presidential pardons or commutations. This time the beneficiary is his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who in 2017 pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in connection with the Trump-Russia scandal. Weeks into his administration, Trump fired Flynn for lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. But in recent years, Trump, as he has falsely contended the Russia investigation was a hoax, has defended and hailed Flynn.
It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2020
Trump’s use—and abuse—of executive clemency has figured prominently in his presidency. One widely discussed Trump 2020 campaign ad, aired during the Super Bowl, featured Alice Johnson—a Black woman who served 21 years in prison for a nonviolent drug offense before Trump commuted her sentence in 2018. “Thanks to President Trump, people like Alice are getting a second chance,” the ad stated. In February, Trump freed several women who served time with Johnson.
But Johnson’s case is far from typical. More often, Trump has used his pardon powers to reward political allies, such as Flynn. Here’s a list of right-wing icons, corrupt public officials, accused war criminals, and other controversial figures who have received clemency from Trump.
Roger Stone
Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, was convicted of lying to Congress, obstruction, and witness tampering in connection with the Russia investigation.
The Trump connection: Stone’s 2019 trial revealed that Trump likely lied to special counsel Robert Mueller about his own role in the scandal, but Stone has remained staunchly loyal to the president. Trump returned the favor. He repeatedly sought to intervene on Stone’s behalf—publicly berating federal prosecutors, the judge in the case, and even a juror. Senior Justice Department officials allegedly pressured government attorneys to “cut Stone a break.” On July 10, Trump commuted Stone’s sentence, just days before Stone would have been required to report to prison.
Joe Arpaio
During his 24 years as the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Arpaio called himself “America’s toughest sheriff” and became known for his severe treatment of immigrants and the harsh conditions in his county jail. When a judge ordered him to stop detaining people based solely on suspicion of their immigration status, which amounted to racial profiling, he refused. In 2017, he was found guilty of criminal contempt of court for violating that order.
The Trump connection: Arpaio endorsed Trump in January 2016, citing his stances on immigration and stumping for him in Iowa. The two men also share a fondness for racist conspiracy theories. At the same time Trump was pushing the false claim that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, Arpaio sent one of his deputies and a member of his volunteer birther posse to Hawaii to investigate Obama’s birth certificate. At an August 2017 rally in Phoenix, Trump hinted at a pardon. “Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?” he said. “I’ll make a prediction: I think he’s going to be just fine.” Days later, the president followed through. “Sheriff Joe is a patriot,” he declared. “Sheriff Joe loves our country. Sheriff Joe protected our borders. And Sheriff Joe was very unfairly treated by the Obama administration.”
Dwight and Steven Hammond
When Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond were convicted of arson for burning more than 100 acres of federal land, their case became a flashpoint in the fight for control over public lands. (Witnesses testified the fire was intended to cover up evidence of illegal hunting; the Hammonds said they started the fire on their own property to burn off invasive species and it accidentally spread.) “They have become symbols of the way many rural Americans feel they’ve been wronged by federal overreach,” BuzzFeed News reported. Their case sparked a 41-day standoff with federal agents at a wildlife refuge in Oregon, led by Ryan and Ammon Bundy. Many people joining the protest were members of unofficial militias, armed with long guns and pistols and dressed in full tactical gear. One Arizona rancher was killed by police.
The Trump connection: The Hammonds had support both from right-wing extremists willing to take up arms against government regulation and from a multimillionaire oil magnate. Forrest Lucas—a GOP megadonor who holds naming rights to the Indianapolis Colts stadium and has close ties to Vice President Mike Pence—made the Hammonds a personal cause as a symbol of his anti-regulation agenda. Trump pardoned them in July 2018. Lucas flew the Hammonds home in his private plane after they were released.
Rod Blagojevich
Blagojevich was governor of Illinois in 2008 when then-Senator Barack Obama won the presidency, leaving Blagojevich to pick Obama’s successor. The governor was convicted of trying to shake down a children’s hospital and sell Obama’s Senate seat. “I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden,” he said on a secretly recorded call, referring to the Senate seat. “I’m not just giving it up for fucking nothing.”
The Trump connection: Blagojevich appeared on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice reality show after leaving office but before going to prison. (He was fired from Celebrity Apprentice, Trump told him, because his “Harry Potter facts were not accurate.”) In recent years, Blagojevich’s wife Patti became a regular on Fox News, hoping to catch the president’s ear as she pleaded for clemency and shopped the theory that Robert Mueller and James Comey—two of the key law enforcement officials who later investigated the Trump-Russia scandal—were behind her husband’s downfall. (Mueller was head of the FBI at the time of Blagojevich’s conviction; Comey was in private practice.) “They took down a governor, and now they’ve got their sights much higher,” she said. Trump commuted Blagojevich’s sentence on February 18, freeing him from prison six years early.
Rod Blagojevich did not sell the Senate seat. He served 8 years in prison, with many remaining. He paid a big price. Another Comey and gang deal! Thank you to @LisaMarieBoothe who really “gets” what’s going on! @FoxNews — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2020
Scooter Libby
Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007 in an infamous case involving the disclosure of the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. At the time, Plame was married to a diplomat who had accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq.
The Trump connection: Comey, who was deputy attorney general at the time, appointed Patrick Fitzgerald—the same US attorney who prosecuted Blagojevich—as special counsel to investigate the Plame scandal. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence in 2007, allowing him to avoid prison time but leaving the conviction on his record. Libby’s defenders continued to argue that he’d been railroaded by overzealous prosecutors, and Trump pardoned him in 2018. Victoria Toensing—who was Libby’s lawyer, as well as vocal Trump ally and a key player in the Ukraine scandal—told the Washington Post that Libby was the victim of an “injustice inflicted on him and his family” by Comey and Fitzgerald. The White House gave a similar explanation. “Many people think that Scooter Libby was the victim of a special counsel gone amok,” Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said. The same day Trump pardoned Libby, he attacked Comey.
On the day the President wrongly attacks Comey for being a “leaker and liar” he considers pardoning a convicted leaker and liar, Scooter Libby. This is the President’s way of sending a message to those implicated in the Russia investigation: You have my back and I‘ll have yours. — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) April 13, 2018
Bernard Kerik
Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner under Rudy Giuliani, pleaded guilty in 2009 to eight felonies, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials. During sentencing, the judge said Kerik had made “a conscious decision to essentially lie to the president of the United States to get a cabinet position”—a reference to the fact that Bush had nominated him in 2004 to serve as Homeland Security secretary. He served three years in prison.
The Trump connection: Kerik has been a regular on Fox News, where he has suggested House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) should be arrested over their roles in Trump’s impeachment. According to a White House statement, Giuliani and Fox host Geraldo Rivera were among those who pushed for a Kerik pardon, which Trump granted on February 18.
Michael Milken
Billionaire Michael Milken, once the highest-paid man in the history of Wall Street, helped create the market for junk bonds in the 1980s. The “junk bond king” was charged with insider trading and convicted of securities fraud in 1990. He served 22 months in prison.
The Trump connection: Trump pardoned Milken on February 18. The president’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, lobbied for Milken’s pardon, as did Giuliani, whose US attorney office had prosecuted Milken. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin—a longtime friend who flew on Milken’s private jet last year—pushed for the pardon. So did Rupert Murdoch, who relied on Milken’s services to fuel the growth of News Corp. According to the White House, the pardon was also supported by GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson, Trump fundraiser and inaugural committee chairman Tom Barrack, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Paul Pogue
Pogue, who owned a Texas construction company, was convicted of underpaying his taxes by nearly $500,000 in 2010. He was sentenced to three years of probation.
The Trump connection: Pogue’s son Ben and daughter-in-law Ashleigh donated more than $200,000 to the Trump Victory PAC. The Daily Beast reported that on the day of their first donation, Ashleigh posted an Instagram photo of the couple posing with Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, in the Hamptons. The president pardoned Pogue on February 18.
David Safavian
Safavian was convicted of obstruction of justice and making false statements in 2008 in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. (Abramoff pleaded guilty to, among other things, defrauding Native American tribes). Safavian, who was working in George W. Bush’s budget office at the time, went on a golf trip to London and Scotland with Abramoff. Safavian was sentenced to a year in prison.
The Trump connection: Safavian is general counsel at the American Conservative Union, which is chaired by Matt Schlapp, whose wife Mercedes was formerly the White House director of strategic communications and went on to serve as a spokesperson for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. Trump pardoned Safavian on February 18.
Pat Nolan
Nolan, a Republican former California state legislator, pleaded guilty in 1994 in an FBI political corruption sting known as “Shrimpscam,” in which federal agents pretending to represent a shrimp business offered bribes to lawmakers. He served 26 months in prison. He’s since become a leading conservative voice on criminal justice reform.
The Trump connection: Nolan leads the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the American Conservative Union Foundation. Nolan was also an influential voice in favor of the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform law that Trump sees as one of his signature legislative achievements. (The measure was highlighted in Trump’s Super Bowl ad that featured Alice Johnson.) Trump pardoned Nolan in May 2019.
Kristian Saucier
While a sailor in the Navy, Saucier illegally retained photographs he took of classified areas of a nuclear submarine. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
The Trump connection: On the campaign trail in 2016, Trump frequently referred to Saucier’s conviction as an example of punishment for what he deemed a lesser offense than Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of State. He pardoned Saucier in March 2018.
Dinesh D’Souza
D’Souza—a conservative provocateur and former Reagan adviser—is known for his incendiary articles and films, including ones that have focused on Obama-related conspiracy theories. He was convicted in 2014 of making illegal campaign contributions to Wendy Long, a Republican Senate candidate in New York, funneling $20,000 through straw donors to evade campaign finance limits. He was sentenced to five years probation, including eight months of confinement in a community center.
The Trump connection: D’Souza claimed that Obama’s Justice Department had pursued the case because D’Souza had made a movie critical of Obama. A judge at the time called this theory “nonsense,” but it resonated with Trump. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was among those who lobbied for a pardon for D’Souza, which Trump granted in May 2018. Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host and former judge who is one of Trump’s most vocal supporters, applauded it. Roger Stone cited D’Souza’s pardon as a signal that Trump had the backs of former aides who had been indicted in the Mueller investigation. “It has to be a signal to Mike Flynn and Paul Manafort and even Robert S. Mueller III: Indict people for crimes that don’t pertain to Russian collusion and this is what could happen,” Stone told the Washington Post.
Conrad Black
Black was a media mogul who at one point ran the world’s third-largest newspaper company, which owned papers such as the Chicago Sun-Times and the Daily Telegraph. In 2007—in yet another case prosecuted by Patrick Fitzgerald—Black was convicted of obstruction of justice and fraud for swindling his company out of $60 million that should have gone to stockholders. Black served three and a half years in prison, though parts or his conviction were ultimately overturned.
The Trump connection: At Black’s 2007 trial, Trump had been expected to testify that Black’s wife’s $62,000 birthday party was a business event, rather than a social gathering—but Black’s lawyers changed their minds at the last minute. In recent years, Black has become a prolific writer of op-eds praising the president, as well as the sycophantic book Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other. Rush Limbaugh and Henry Kissinger were among those who pressed Trump to pardon Black; he did so in May 2019.
Angela Stanton
Stanton was convicted on federal conspiracy charges for her role in a car theft ring in 2004. After serving her two-year prison sentence, she became a television personality and author, starring in a BET docuseries and writing an inflammatory book called Lies of a Real Housewife, alleging that one of the stars of Real Housewives of Atlanta had been part of her “hustler’s life of crime” years ago.
The Trump connection: Stanton helped push for the First Step Act. In 2019, she participated in a Fox News panel of Black voters as a Trump supporter. After being pardoned on February 18, she announced plans to run for Congress as a Republican. She ultimately lost her race by more than 70 percentage points.
Eddie DeBartolo Jr.
DeBartolo, a former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, was convicted in 1998 of failing to report a $400,000 bribe the governor of Louisiana solicited from him. He was sentenced to two years’ probation and $1 million in penalties.
The Trump connection: DeBartolo supported Trump’s presidential campaign and hosted a pre-inauguration party headlined by Kimberly Guilfoyle and Omarosa Manigault. DeBartolo is also a local celebrity in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. As Philip Bump wrote in the Washington Post, Trump’s pardon of DeBartolo, issued on February 18, could have been part of his effort to keep Ohio red in 2020.
Michael Behenna
Behenna was an Army lieutenant who served five years in prison for the 2008 murder of Ali Mansur, an Iraqi prisoner. US forces took Mansur into custody after a roadside bomb killed two of Behenna’s friends and platoon members, but he was freed when the military couldn’t conclusively link him to the bombing. Behenna was supposed to drive Mansur back to his village. Instead, Behenna stripped him naked, interrogated him without authorization, and fatally shot him. He later claimed self-defense.
The Trump connection: Fox & Friends—one of Trump’s favorite shows—treated Behenna’s case favorably and gave Behenna’s parents a platform to lobby for a pardon. Trump pardoned him in May 2019, freeing him from his parole restrictions five years early.
Mathew Golsteyn
Major Mathew Golsteyn was charged with murder in 2018 when he acknowledged having killed an Afghan man in 2010. The man was suspected of making bombs and had been ordered to be released after questioning. According to documents unearthed by the Washington Post in 2015, an Army investigation found that Golsteyn and other soldiers buried the man’s body, dug it up, and then burned it. Golsteyn’s lawyer had told the Post at the time that the documents “are taken out of context and are biased,” adding that “it’s fantasy to say he confessed to shooting an unarmed detainee.”
The Trump connection: Pete Hegseth—a Fox & Friends host and a buddy of Trump—lobbied for months on air and off for Trump to intervene in the cases of Golsteyn and two other service members, Eddie Gallagher and Clint Lorance. Hegseth said that doing so would be “heartening for guys like me and others in the service.” Golsteyn’s wife, Julie, repeatedly appeared on Fox & Friends with Hegseth to plead her husband’s case. Trump pardoned Golsteyn in November 2019, while he was still awaiting trial. The next month, Golsteyn appeared on stage at a fundraiser with Trump. The Daily Beast reported that Trump wanted the accused war criminals he pardoned to campaign for him in 2020.
The case of Major Mathew Golsteyn is now under review at the White House. Mathew is a highly decorated Green Beret who is being tried for killing a Taliban bombmaker. We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill! @PeteHegseth — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2019
Clint Lorance
Lieutenant Clint Lorance received a 19-year prison sentence for second-degree murder after ordering troops to fire on unarmed Afghan civilians in 2012. Two of them died.
The Trump connection: Lorance benefited from Hegseth’s campaign to secure Trump’s intervention in the cases of convicted and accused war criminals. Trump pardoned Lorance in November 2019, freeing him from prison after six years. Lorance has since praised the president on Fox News and, along with Golsteyn, took the stage at a fundraiser with Trump.
Eddie Gallagher
Special Operations Chief Gallagher, a Navy SEAL, was charged with war crimes in 2018. He was acquitted of the most serious charges, sentenced to time served, and demoted.
The Trump connection: The case first came to Trump’s attention when Bernard Kerik became an advocate for Gallagher’s family in conservative media, the AP reported. Hegseth lobbied hard on behalf of Gallagher. So did Trump allies Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and then-Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who resigned in January after pleading guilty to conspiracy to misuse campaign funds. Trump didn’t grant Gallagher a pardon or commutation, but he did reverse Gallagher’s demotion.