Trump pardons more senior allies after granting mercy to convicted war criminals

US President Donald Trump has granted pardons and sentence commutations to more senior allies in his second clemency spree in just two days.

Among those pardoned on Wednesday were his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone and Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Trump swept away the most important convictions under the long-running investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, attacking the results of US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged interference, a case the US president dismissed as a political witch hunt.

Manafort was among the first in Trump’s inner circle to face charges brought by Mueller as part of his probe into “Russian interference” in the 2016 presidential election. Manafort had been sentenced to 90 months, or 7 1/2 years, in prison.

Stone was also convicted in November 2019 of lying under oath to lawmakers investigating “Russian meddling”.

Charles Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and making unlawful campaign donations.

In total, Trump issued pardons on Wednesday to 26 individuals and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional three people. A commutation removes the punishment.

Reacting to Wednesday’s pardons, Republican Senator Ben Sasse, in a six-word statement, said: “This is rotten to the core.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has been trying to prosecute Manafort in New York for mortgage fraud and other alleged crimes, said it would continue to pursue an appeal for its case, which was dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.

Trump, taking advantage of a right granted by the Constitution only to the president, has issued two groups of pardons in as many days, and more are anticipated as Trump nears the end of his presidency on Jan. 20.

Trump issues series of pardons, including for 2 in Russia probe, 4 Blackwater contractors

President Trump has issued a series of pardons including for two people involved in the Russia probe and 4 Blackwater contractors.

The US president on Tuesday issued a flurry of pardons to a slew of controversial figures from his inner circle, in a move that further cements his legacy of exercising his sweeping powers to benefit his political allies.

Among the list of individuals pardoned Tuesday were Russian probe-related figures including George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide indicted by Mueller, Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, as well as four former Blackwater Worldwide military contractors responsible for the shooting deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007.

The 2007 tragic incident prompted outcry from human rights organizations and sparked a public debate about the US military's use of private contractors in war zones.

The pardoned war criminals had been accused by prosecutors of illegally unleashing "powerful sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers on innocent men, women and children in Iraq in 2007."

One of the convicted war criminals was Nicholas Slatten had been serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and the others were sentenced to between 12 and 15 years on manslaughter convictions.

Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, is the brother of US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and a forceful ally of the Trump administration.

US judge reduces jail terms of Blackwater guards involved in Iraq massacre

A US judge drastically reduces prison terms of Blackwater guards involved in massacre of Iraqi civilians.

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