Trump And Pardons … Heres A Case That Might Interest Him – Forbes

Pardons are all the rage these days but the system has been broken for years. President Trump, even if he pardons everyone in his administration, is still way behind other presidents who exercised their broad but constitutional power to pardon someone of a federal crime. Here are the facts, Trump has granted clemency/pardons to 44 people during the past four years ... compare that to his predecessors;

Barack Obama: 1,927

George W. Bush:200

Bill Clinton:459

One pardon that is not so controversial .... the lucky Thanksgiving turkey

Pardons are often controversial. In 1868,President Andrew Johnsonspardon of Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederacy, was perhaps the most controversial ever in our countrys history. President Barack Obama gave clemency to Chelsea Manning, the leaker of information to Julian Assange, after Manning served 7 years of a 35 year sentence. Manning was in prison for releasing classified information to Wikileaks Julian Assange ... who could find himself on trial in the U.S. in the near future ... unless Trump grants him a pardon as a thank you for some emails.

What is most interesting about Trumps pardons/clemencies are that they are highly political and they are motivated by emotion to right something that he views as a personal wrong that has been done. Trumps clemency of Roger Stone and pardon of Michael Flynn were both preceded by Tweets expressing government prosecutors handling, mishandling, of the cases.

As Trump considers pardons / commutations in his remaining days in office, look for him to continue to get personal about who he pardons and the reasons behind his decisions. Look for Trump to consider one out of the Southern District of New York that involves media, a rogue FBI agent and a prosecution brought by the former SDNY US Attorney Preet Bharara.

Billy Walters, the legendary sports bettor, was convicted of insider trading charges in 2017 in a case marked by admitted government misconduct. While Walters is continuing to serve his five-year sentence on home confinement, he hasnt been quiet about calling out the wrongdoing in his case, something that usually rattles the cage of the Trump administration.

In October, Walters filed a lawsuit against Preet Bharara, the CNN senior legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, other federal prosecutors and former FBI Supervisory Agent David Chaves for violating his constitutional rights when it was revealed that Chaves had communications with both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times NYT . Court documents in Walters case show that Chaves, believing that the insider trading case against Walters was dormant, began leaking secret grand-jury testimony to the media in an attempt to pressure Walters and others to talk.

When Walters raised questions about the illegal leaks with a federal judge, Bhararas office filed court papers calling the claimsbaseless accusations and a fishing expedition. Those papers were filed with the court two years after Bharara had first become aware of the FBI leaks. Last month, Walters also filed Bar complaints against both Bharara and Chaves in Massachusetts and New York. His attorneys also formally requested that U.S. Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray investigate and disclose whether Bharara, Chaves or any of their cohorts have received any disciplinary sanctions related to their actions.

Walters is a successful businessman with holdings in real estate, auto dealerships and golf courses. Hes a millionaire many times over, so he can afford to fight. From his actions of the past month, it certainly appears that Walters will keep raising hell until someone addresses his complaints. Regarding Trump, this is the kind of case he usually pokes his head into with the intention of embarrassing, exposing, someone in authority ... especially his adversaries, like Bharara.

Bharara, who regularly appears on CNN to defend the rule of law in the Trump era and attack the U.S. Department of Justice, has been mum about Walters since the lawsuit was filed.Bharara, interestingly, is being mentioned for a high-level appointment in a Biden administration, possibly as head of the Department of Justice or Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which reviewed Walters case, found the leaking of confidential grand jury testimony to the press amounted to serious misconduct and, indeed, likely criminal and in some respects more egregious than anything Walters did. However, no indictments have resulted from those leaks ... yet.

Walters has every right to be furious. Were in a time of hyper-partisanship in this country, but theres one principle everyone can agree on:The people who enforce the law should not be above the law.

Maybe Trump will weigh in on this one.

Originally posted here:

Trump And Pardons ... Heres A Case That Might Interest Him - Forbes