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The Trump Clemencies: Celebrities, Chaos, And Lost Opportunity, Mark Osler
The Trump Clemencies: Celebrities, Chaos, And Lost Opportunity, Mark Osler
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
The presidency of Donald Trump may have produced the most chaotic use of the constitutional pardon power in American history. Trump granted clemency to war criminals, to close friends, to celebrities, and to the friends of celebrities, with much of it coming in a mad rush at the end of his single term. Buried beneath this rolling disaster was a brief moment of hope and a lost opportunity: the chance for a restructure of the clemency process in the fall of 2018, enabled by a rare alignment of factors, including Trump’s alienation from the Department of Justice. This Article will …