President Donald Trump is preparing to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on Tuesday, his final full day in office. According to three people familiar with the matter, a major batch of clemencies is expected to include white-collar criminals, high-profile rappers, and others but - as of now - not Trump himself, as was reported by CNN.
According to the sources, the White House held a meeting on Sunday to finalize the list of pardons. Among the "lucky ones" are those who have been convicted of economic crimes.
The January 6 riots that led to Trump's second impeachment have complicated his desire to pardon himself, his kids, and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. At this point, aides do not think he will do so, but caution only Trump knows what he will do with his last bit of presidential power before he is officially out of the office at noon on January 20.
"There are a lot of people urging the President to pardon the folks" involved in the insurrection, Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday on Fox News. "To seek a pardon of these people would be wrong." However, one White House official said paperwork had not yet been drawn up for a self-pardon.
Notably, Trump had been rolling out pardons and commutations at a steady clip ahead of Christmas. However, he put a pause on them in the days leading up to and directly after the January 6 riots at the US Capitol, according to officials. Trump was singularly focused on the Electoral College count in the days ahead of time, precluding him from making final decisions on pardons.
At the same time, President Trump did not grant clemency to a series of federal death row prisoners whose executions raised a plethora of legal concerns.
As was reported by "Apostrophe" earlier, the newly elected President of the United States Joe Biden shared his plans for the first working day as the head of state. After the inauguration, he plans to repeal a number of Donald Trump's laws and stimulate the post-pandemic economic recovery projects.