Donald Trump is reportedly considering issuing 250 presidential pardons to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States. The announcement could come on 14 June, his birthday, or on 4 July, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to The Wall Street Journal.
Since returning to office for his second term, Trump has faced criticism for issuing a historic number of pardons, despite vowing during his campaign to end the 'politicisation' of the Justice Department. Many of these pardons were granted to individuals convicted for their roles in the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot, with over 1,500 such pardons issued on his first day back in office last year.
The WSJ reports that plans for the 250 pardons are still preliminary, and some within the Trump administration have raised concerns that a high number of pardons could affect Republicans in the midterm elections. A White House official told The Independent that no actions have been taken and no final decisions made, adding that all clemency-related actions are up to the president.
Aside from the January 6-related pardons, the vast majority of Trump's pardons have been for public fraud and white-collar crimes. Last year, he pardoned at least 11 former members of Congress and preemptively pardoned nearly 80 people involved in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Former DOJ Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer said Trump is 'normalizing public corruption' and downplaying the crimes of convicted fraudsters.
The liberal use of the pardon power has led to a record number of requests, with more than 16,000 formal submissions last year, according to DOJ data analysed by The WSJ. High-profile applicants include Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted founder of crypto exchange FTX, and Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein and convicted child sex trafficker. Trump has said he has no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried but has not ruled out clemency for Maxwell.
