This is gonna get interesting.

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White House Weighs Pardon Blitz Before Trump’s Exit

WASHINGTON — It’s not just Michael T. Flynn. The White House is weighing a wave of pardons and commutations by President Trump in his final weeks in office, prompting jockeying by a range of clemency seekers and their representatives, including more allies of Mr. Trump.

Among those hoping for pardons are two former Trump campaign advisers, Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos, who like Mr. Flynn, the former national security adviser who is already said to be in line for a pardon from Mr. Trump, were convicted in cases stemming from the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

Alan Dershowitz, the law professor who represented Mr. Trump during his impeachment trial, is considering seeking clemency for two of his clients — a New Jersey man serving more than 20 years for defrauding investors, and a billionaire businessman convicted in what’s been called “one of North Carolina’s worst government corruption scandals.”

Mr. Dershowitz said he recently discussed the pardon process with the White House.

But it is not just the well-connected and wealthy who could benefit from one of Mr. Trump’s final exercises of executive power, lawyers in contact with the administration said.

Several groups that have pushed for a criminal justice overhaul are working with an ad hoc White House team under the direction of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, with a goal of announcing as many as hundreds of commutations for offenders now in jail for crimes ranging from nonviolent drug convictions to mail fraud and money laundering.

Rest - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...it/ar-BB1bmBPZ


Trump set for precedent breaking lame-duck period

Trump set for precedent breaking lame-duck period

President Trump's final 50 days in the White House are shaping up to be as precedent-breaking as the rest of his tenure, which has deeply divided the nation and ended with him becoming the first president in nearly 30 years to be defeated after one term.

Trump is likely to sign a handful of executive orders in his last weeks in office in order to cement his agenda on immigration, China and other matters, and he may grant more pardons after giving clemency to Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser.

Trump must sign legislation to prevent a government shutdown in December and will continue to preside over a pandemic that is worsening over the holiday season. His administration will also oversee the beginning of the delivery of a coronavirus vaccine.

Perhaps most significantly, Trump is likely to continue to insist he won the election and that it was stolen from him despite evidence showing President-elect Joe Biden defeated him by more than 5 million votes and nearly 70 more electoral votes. This is likely to continue to feed conspiracy theories believed by millions of Americans that will make Biden's efforts to govern more difficult.

“This election was lost by the Democrats. They cheated. It was a fraudulent election,” Trump insisted Wednesday as he called into a meeting in Gettysburg arranged by Pennsylvania Republicans and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to discuss alleged voting irregularities.

Rest - https://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...me-duck-period