[Peace-discuss] Pardon Me? $$$

[Szoke, Ron]

Prospect of Pardons in Final Days Fuels Market to Buy Access to Trump

The president’s allies have collected tens of thousands of dollars — and potentially much more — from people seeking pardons.
By Michael S. Schmidt and Kenneth P. Vogel
		NYT  Jan. 17, 2021,  Updated 11:50 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — As President Trump prepares to leave office in days, a lucrative market for pardons is coming to a head, with some of his allies collecting fees from wealthy felons or their associates to push the White House for clemency, according to documents and interviews with more than three dozen lobbyists and lawyers.
  The brisk market for pardons reflects the access peddling that has defined Mr. Trump’s presidency as well as his unorthodox approach to exercising unchecked presidential clemency powers. Pardons and commutations are intended to show mercy to deserving recipients, but Mr. Trump has used many of them to reward personal or political allies.

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