PARDON SPREE: Trump Commutes Sentence For Ill. Gov. Blago, NY Police Commissioner Kerik and More

5
>>Follow Matzav On Whatsapp!<<

President Trump on Tuesday granted clemency to almost a dozen individuals, including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and ex-New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, sparking criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

“I did commute [Blagojevich’s] sentence. So he’ll be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail,” Trump told reporters in reference to the disgraced Illinois governor who had served roughly half of a 14-year sentence on federal corruption charges. “That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others.”

He also pardoned Kerik, who was convicted of tax fraud and making false statements, as well as financier Michael Milken.

Trump also pardoned former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who pleaded guilty in 1998 for failing to report that he was extorted by an ex-Louisiana governor. In total, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 11 people.

Read more at The Hill.

{Matzav.com}


5 COMMENTS

  1. A commutation is not a pardon. Rod Blagojevich was a life-long Democrat who had nearly as much friction with his own party as with the Republicans. Hard to see any reason or gain for Trump on this, except Trump’s own sense of right-and-wrong.

    Wikipedia names Patrick Fitzgerald as the Attorney General under which (and on his orders) Rod Blagojevich was prosecuted. This Patrick Fitzgerald was the “special prosecutor” in the so-called Plame affair. His actions in that Plame case were so egregiously political and biased that anything he had his hand in is highly suspect. Wikipedia states that Blagojevich was indicted on 24 charges, he offered no witnesses and merely called the prosecutions case so weak that there was no need for him to offer anything . The jury was hung on 23 of the 24 charges. In the second trial on the same charges he was found guilty on 17 counts. The sentence was 14 years. He appealed and the appeals court unanimously threw out 5 of those convictions. The case went back to the original judge for resentence. And the judge gave him the same 14 years despite the reduction in convictions.

  2. Good. Let the Dems be up in arms first with all the early releases for the hate crimes attacks , that they dont give 2 hoots about. But about a guy who took some bribes and sat for 8 years , that’s where there is an outrage ?
    Trump, keep em coming and tick them off even more

  3. Wikipedia has some interesting things to say about Milken. For one, Rudy Giuliani was one of the original investigators out to probe Milken at the time, and he was also one of those who recommended to Trump to pardon Milken. Milken had been under heavy scrutiny for years for no other reason than his own success, yet nothing could be found. It was not until another person was indicted on charges that this other person made a deal for pointing his finger at Milken. Even then prosecutors went after Milken’s family and thus twisted Milken’s arm into a plea bargain in 1990 – in exchange for a a guilty plea the prosecutors would drop their attack on his family.

  4. As top Donut Eater he has to be held to a higher standard. Kerik destroyed many live’s as police commissioner. Now that he was caught committing serious federal crimes, he’s just let off with a slap on the wrist. If any Frum person did the exact same crimes as Kerik, he would get minimum, 27 years behind bars.

  5. When asked by a reporter if he felt Trump should have given him a pardon, rather than commuting his sentence, Blagojevich replied, “Pardon me, I didn’t hear your question.
    When the reporter tried to ask him the question again, Blagojevich replied angrily, “Stop interrupting me before I finish my sentence?!”
    Later on, when he was told that his sentence had been commuted, the former Governor replied, “That’s great, but how am I supposed to get home? It’s a long commute between here and Illinois!”
    When he was asked if he would formally thank Trump for the commutation, Blagojevich replied, “If Trump finds a way for me to get home quickly, I’ll most definitely thank him for the commute, but right now, that’s just speculation.”

Leave a Reply to george Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here