Some White House officials are discussing the possibility of President Donald Trump marking America’s 250th birthday with a sweeping round of pardons — a proposal dubbed “250 pardons for 250 years,” according to a new report.
The mass clemency effort could be announced around the Fourth of July, more than a dozen sources familiar with the discussions told The Atlantic.
Advisers to the president are divided. Some believe the move could bolster an image he has long sought to project: “Trump the merciful.” Others worry it could further drag down the president’s already historically low approval ratings.
Still, the idea has not yet been presented to Trump and may never reach him, a White House official told the outlet.
The president has already drawn scrutiny for his acts of clemency, a power granted to him by the Constitution. Since returning to office, he’s issued a historic wave of pardons for white-collar criminals and political allies, including nearly 1,600 January 6 defendants.
open image in galleryWhen reached for comment, a White House spokesperson directed The Independent to a statement that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt provided to The Atlantic.
“President Trump takes his absolute constitutional power to issue pardons and commutations seriously,” Leavitt said. “That’s why we have a rigorous review process involving the Department of Justice and the White House Counsel’s Office—a team of elite lawyers who carefully evaluate every request before it reaches the President’s desk, and he serves as the final decision maker.”
According to The Atlantic, the administration has largely sidestepped the traditional pardon application process, which typically runs through the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.
In its place, an informal group of White House mediators has taken shape, with political allies leveraging their connections to advance pardon requests for a price.
“It is general knowledge in our practice that for $2 million, you can have a pardon,” one attorney told the outlet. “The clients come to us and tell us, ‘I’ve been told I need to go hire this specific person, and [then] I will get a pardon.’”
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that a new “fast-track” system for presidential pardons had emerged, with lobbyists claiming to charge a $1 million fee to advocate for clemency.
open image in galleryThis backchannel system has run into overdrive in recent weeks as reports of potentially hundreds of Fourth of July pardons circulate. Lobbyists and attorneys say they have been flooded with requests from clients seeking help navigating the process.
“In 30 years of practicing law, I’ve never seen anything like this,” one attorney said. “I’m exhausted.”
Among those reportedly under consideration for presidential clemency are Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian businessman and fugitive; Pras Michel, an American rapper convicted in a foreign influence case; and Nicole Daedone, an American entrepreneur convicted in a forced-labor conspiracy.
A White House official, however, poured cold water on this idea, telling the outlet: “While the President is the final decision maker on all pardons, these individuals are not on the radar of the pardon team.”