The president of the United States, Donald Trump, expects to issue around 100 pardons and commutations of sentences on his last day in office, next January 20, among which he will not be included, reported yesterday, Monday, the CNN network.
The U.S. media, which claims to have spoken to three people close to this issue, the clemency actions include several “white collar” criminals and known rappers.
The White House, still under Trump’s presidency, held a meeting on Sunday to draw up this list of pardons.
The outgoing president, who had been signing a large number of pardons and commutations of sentences at a steady pace over Christmas, stopped doing so in the days before and after the Jan. 6 riots, when the assault on the Capitol took place.
According to CNN, several of Trump’s advisors claimed that the president had focused during those days on the Electoral College recount, which prevented him from making final decisions on pardons.
White House officials hoped that this work would resume after January 6, but Trump decided not to after he was blamed for inciting the riots.
Initially, two lists of pardoned people were ready to be implemented, one at the end of last week and another on Tuesday.
Now, officials hope that Sunday’s last list will be the only one left, unless Trump decides at the last minute to grant pardons to controversial allies, family members or himself.
The latest batch of leniency actions is expected to include a combination of pardons aimed at criminal justice reform and more controversial ones obtained or distributed to political allies, according to CNN.
Pardons are one of the elements that Trump must complete before he ends his presidency and leaves it to Democrat Joe Biden.
The Jan. 6 riots that led to Trump’s second impeachment have complicated his desire to pardon himself, his children and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, or so sources consulted by CNN believe.
Although there is always doubt about this, since only Trump knows what he will do with his last presidential power before he officially leaves office at noon on January 20.
