২০ জানুয়ারী, ২০২১

"President Trump granted a full pardon to Stephen Bannon. Prosecutors pursued Mr. Bannon with charges related to fraud stemming from his involvement in a political project. Mr. Bannon has been an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen."

One of the shortest entries on "Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency/President Donald J. Trump granted pardons to 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of an additional 70 individuals," issued just after midnight on this, the last half-day of the Trump presidency. 

The pardon for Mr. Bannon was described as a pre-emptive move that would effectively wipe away the charges against him, should he be convicted....  The president made the decision on Mr. Bannon after a day of frantic efforts to sway his thinking, including from Mr. Bannon himself. The White House had planned to release the list of those granted clemency earlier on Tuesday, but the debate over Mr. Bannon was part of the delay, officials said. 
By late afternoon on Tuesday, advisers believed they had kept a pardon for Mr. Bannon from happening. But by around 9 p.m., Mr. Trump had changed his mind once again. Mr. Trump and Mr. Bannon spoke by phone during the day as the president was weighing the pardon, and Mr. Bannon’s allies tried to apply pressure to make it happen while his detractors pushed the president not to go ahead with it. 
Mr. Bannon helped guide the president’s campaign to victory in 2016. He then had an extraordinarily messy split with Mr. Trump in August 2017, prompting him to leave the White House....

As for the rest of those pardons — no pardon for Snowdon or Assange, but Trump did pardon Li'l Wayne. 

৩৮টি মন্তব্য:

Humperdink বলেছেন...

President Trump, noted racist, also commuted the sentence of the former Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Malik Kilpatrick.

David Begley বলেছেন...

For me, this is great news. Congrats to Steve, his family and friends.

J. Farmer বলেছেন...

Good riddance. Now take that creepy, brooding wife of yours and fuck off to Palm Beach.

wendybar বলেছেন...

AAwww
Farmer...I hope you get what you deserve under Biden. I hope you enjoy the downfall, and enjoy the hate and violence that won't stop with corruption that wasn't quelled.

Humperdink বলেছেন...

Farmer you surprise me. Your comments are generally well thought out. 30,000 Dow get you down?

J. Farmer বলেছেন...

Oh dear, wendybar, If you'd like to know why the GOP has been failing for 40 years, take a good look in a mirror.

J. Farmer বলেছেন...

@Humperdink:

Farmer you surprise me. Your comments are generally well thought out. 30,000 Dow get you down?

That's a good example of why relying on econometrics is not a great way to judge the health of a society.


p.s. Remember, there's nothing a dissident conservative hates more than the GOP.

Tank বলেছেন...

Why would I believe anything the NYT says?

Humperdink বলেছেন...

Econometrics: "the quantitative analysis of actual economic phenomena based on the concurrent development of theory and observation, related by appropriate methods of inference".

I prefer: "It's the economy, stupid". (Noted scholar/statesman/political hack James Carville 1992)

Temujin বলেছেন...

And Kwami Kilpatrick of Detroit. One in a long line of corrupt Detroit leaders. But when you look at the scale of our corrupt leaders in Washington, Kwami's case probably looked tiny. And since he already served a few years, he's getting out. That one surprised me, though.

I was hoping for Assange to get pardoned. I wanted to see the CIA/FBI people howl and scream. I guess that will not happen. They'll get their man in the end.

The Crack Emcee বলেছেন...

"But Trump did pardon Li'l Wayne."

It's hard to believe Trump went his whole term, with people calling him a racist (including Snoop, who also got there founder of Death Row Records pardoned) and it was never mentioned Donald Trump was the guy in the '80s who loaned his plane to Russell Simmons to fly to L.A. to get DefJam off the ground.

Russell Simmons didn't even say it.

I thought the world shits on me now, but - boy - did they do a master class on this President.

I wish him well.

MayBee বলেছেন...

Really bummed about Assange and Snowden.
Especially Snowden. He can't come to his home country while the people he exposed for spying on us all become richer and richer with their television and consulting contracts.

Do you all think Mitch threatened Trump, as has been reported? Do you think keeping Trump from pardoning him has been one of the reasons for the Impeachment over reaction of the past several weeks?

The Crack Emcee বলেছেন...

MayBee said...

"Really bummed about Assange and Snowden."

I never thought they would or should be pardoned. What the allure of selling us out is, I don't know, but there's a reason patriots got pissed if they thought Trump was a traitor, and it applies even more when we find the real thing. Assange got people killed and Snowden fucked himself - to tell me nothing I didn't already know - so they're a couple of devious morons who thought they were clever.

I hate people who think they're clever.

I'll feel bummed if the CIA ever leaves either of them alone.

Wince বলেছেন...

If Trump pardoned Assange or Snowden, it would have torn at GOP constituencies.

If the Biden administration prosecutes either, it tears at Democrat constituencies.

Is it that simple?

narciso বলেছেন...

Bannon was carrying jimmy lals documentation of chinese ties, he stood for western civilization those are the reasons he was charged.

Francisco D বলেছেন...

MayBee said...Do you all think Mitch threatened Trump, as has been reported? Do you think keeping Trump from pardoning him has been one of the reasons for the Impeachment over reaction of the past several weeks?

It is a reasonable theory that fits the behavior of Republicans during the Trump administration. They were just waiting him out instead of pursuing truth and justice.

One gets the sense that what we call "The Deep State: is a coalition of self-serving politicians who are primarily concerned with their own wealth and power. They have been gaining increasing State power over the past several decades and try to destroy those who threaten that power. The persecution of Mike Flynn seems to be a good example.

Ray - SoCal বলেছেন...

Snoop, who got the founder of death row records sentence commuted, had a video of shooting Trump.

Strange world!

Ray - SoCal বলেছেন...

What strikes me the most about Trumps last batch of pardons is how they will help his image in the Black Community.

Ajnal বলেছেন...

"Trump pardoning a guy indicted by the Trump Justice Dept for defrauding Trump supporters over the fake Trump wall is a fitting ending to the Trump presidency."

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves বলেছেন...

Total bullshit that he didn't pardon Snowden and Assange.

Assange especially. I wonder what deep state threat they held over him?

Bob Boyd বলেছেন...

advisers believed they had kept a pardon for Mr. Bannon from happening.

What kind of a person...?

Howard বলেছেন...

He had to pardon Steve bannon Trump would not be president without Steve bannon or kellyanne Conway.

StephenFearby বলেছেন...

Howard said...
"He had to pardon Steve bannon Trump would not be president without Steve bannon..."

Perhaps. But it sidesteps the moral issue of "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time."

Urban Dictionary:

Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time.
A "hip" expression of the 1960's-70's that advises you not to do something risky unless you are willing and able to accept the full weight of the consequences.

Ironically popularized by the theme song to the TV show "Baretta" starring Robert Blake.

From the indictment, Bannon was guilty as sin. If he wasn't, Bannon wouldn't have pushed so hard for this egregious pardon.

Like Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, sets a very bad example.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent বলেছেন...

"What strikes me the most about Trump's last batch of pardons is how they will help his image in the Black Community."

His popularity will only continue to grow among Black folks. In a riot-at-the-slightest-provocation country, I'm guessing the Black zeitgeist will sour considerably during the Biden/Harris years.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent বলেছেন...

"Now take that creepy, brooding wife of yours...."

A little bitchy, Farmer....

Kay বলেছেন...

Ah well, I kind of expected he wouldn’t pardon Assange or Snowden the way I expected he wouldn’t end the wars. I’m happy about Weezy, though.

Tina Trent বলেছেন...

Wince is right: let Biden juggle that baggage.

Bannon just spent the last few months screwing up yet another populist movement by telling conservatives to not vote in the Senate runoffs. He should be tarred and feathered and sent back to his foreign adventures. Never mind a courtroom.

If Trump had spent less time kissing assorted Kardashian keesters and more time connecting with the working men and women who elected him, he might still be president.

Bannon was using us for his rich pals in Hong Kong, and Trump was outplayed by the soft-handed Buckleyites. The common denominator among all three is disrespect for middle-class Americans.

narciso বলেছেন...

he supported brexit, the italian antiglobalist movement, loeffler who short sold at the top, and perdue who sought to accomodate to the new regime, miles gu opposes xi, and was targeted by the princeling connected imdb,

PB বলেছেন...

As always, many of the pardons seem, unclean.

Julian Assange deserved one.

The US law that makes the actions of anyone, anywhere in the world a criminal for his actions seems a crime against humanity.

Lurker21 বলেছেন...

Bannon lied to his contributors and the money didn't get where it was supposed to go by the time he was indicted. Was the cut he and his partners personally took greater than what other charity and foundation executives get? That I don't know.

Much of the conservative media wanted the president to pardon Snowden and Assange. Is there a "silent majority" of conservatives and Republicans who didn't want this and would be outraged? Or has hostility to the swamp and the surveillance agencies changed minds? Did opposition to the pardon just come from the Washington Establishment or was it also present in the grass roots?

It seems like there are two "realities" (or more likely, two aspects of the same reality): one in which Snowden is a traitor and Assange a national enemy, and another in which they took on some pernicious practices and corrupt institutions and revealed things that we should really know about. Which to choose, and why?

Sam L. বলেছেন...

I trust nothing from the NYT.

Joe Smith বলেছেন...

No pardon for Assange was a mistake. He is no different than the NYT. He is a publisher; doesn't matter where he get his info.

Snowden should have gotten one too. I guess some whistleblowers are more equal than others.

People go on about Trump being a narcissist, but he did have a messy split with Bannon, and still was magnanimous enough to take his call and 'forgive' him in a sense.

An egomaniac doesn't do that.

Narr বলেছেন...

No pardons/commutations for Assange-Snowden-Kyriakou(?).

Yep. Fuck Trump and the jet he rode in on.

Narr
And get ready for Deep State II: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.

Tomcc বলেছেন...

Lurker21: Was the cut he and his partners personally took greater than what other charity and foundation executives get?
I saw a brief article earlier today from the A.P. from which I was able to extract two data points:
1. "...he allegedly diverted over a million dollars, paying a salary to one campaign official and personal expenses for himself."
2. "They raised more than $25 million from thousands of donors and pledged that 100% of the money would be used for the project."
A back of the envelope calculation suggests that he had about a 4% administrative overhead. The crime is that he said that 100% of the proceeds would be used to build the wall.

alanc709 বলেছেন...

Bannon lied, and liberals want him charged with crimes. Biden lied and plagiarized, but liberals wanted him as president. Go fuck yourselves, hypocrites.

NMObjectivist বলেছেন...

Bannon is so hated by the left and the anti-Trumpers, I doubt he could get a fair trial. So I approve of his pardon.

daskol বলেছেন...

Damn shame no pardon for Assange. I don't fully understand the politics of the matter, but the justice of pardoning him is clear. And such an opportunity to embrace robust freedom of expression and distinguish himself even more from the political hacks and swamp creatures.

Fred Brady বলেছেন...

Any chance from a legal/process perspective that Trump executed Assange/Snowdon/other pardons that can be made public later (e.g. after the Impeachment vote)?