President Trump is expected to issue between 50 and 100 commutations and pardons before he leaves office this week, two sources familiar with the list told a Fox News rep.
The sources told Fox News that the announcement of the pardons will likely come in one large batch on Tuesday, but there is a slight chance the White House will wait to make them official Wednesday morning. The president has until noon on Wednesday to do so.
Some of the people supposedly making the pardon list, are quite surprising.
One of those said to have made the list is rapper Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter. Wayne pleaded guilty in 2020 in federal district court to illegally possessing a loaded, gold-plated .45-caliber handgun while traveling to Florida on a private jet in 2019. The contents of Carter’s bag also included small amounts of cocaine, ecstasy and oxycodone, according to the U.S. attorney.
One man said to not be making the list is, despite an aggressive campaign by WikiLeaks trying to secure a pardon for its founder Julian Assange, the president is not expected to give him one.
It’s said to be up in the air if Steve Bannon is going to receive a pardon.
Trump’s old former adviser Steve Bannon and an architect of his 2016 campaign, was arrested on fraud charges over the summer. Bannon pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan after being indicted with three others who were accused of defrauding donors to the online fundraising campaign known as “We Build the Wall” that raised $25 million.
Bannon, 66, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
During Trump’s presidency, he issued a slew of pardons.
Last month, the president pardoned former California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, who was sentenced to 11 months in prison and three years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to a corruption charge, as well as former GOP Rep. Chris Collins, who was sentenced to 26 months in prison for securities fraud.
Trump also pardoned former campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who had been convicted of making false statements during the Mueller investigation.
The president also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, who also pleaded guilty to lying to Mueller investigators and was sentenced to 30 days in prison.
And just before Christmas, the president pardoned more than two dozen other individuals – including his 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort and adviser Roger Stone – both of whom were prosecuted and convicted in Mueller’s investigation.
Trump had commuted Stone’s sentence in July, but gave him a full pardon last month.
Also last month, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who was convicted and sentenced to two years for preparing false tax returns, witness retaliation and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, and Margaret Hunter, the wife of former Congressman Hunter. Ms.
So needless to say — the next 36 hours should be quite interesting.