Other presidents have let white-collar criminals dodge financial penalties – but not like Trump

Filed 46m ago · Via The Conversation · The Buffoon Desk

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Maple Leaf Rag

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Myotus · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

A legal scholar who reviewed every pardon and commutation since 1989 found that President Trump's second-term clemency has forgiven nearly $1.7 billion in fines and restitution owed by convicted defendants, far outpacing any prior administration. About $700 million of that never even got formally imposed because clemency arrived before sentencing was finalized, and much of the rest was restitution meant to repay victims.

House Democrats reported the same figure, and the study found only 15% of Trump's second-term pardon recipients met the traditional five-year post-sentence waiting guideline, compared to 94-100% under recent predecessors. Many of the beneficiaries used lobbying firms or made donations to Trump-aligned causes before receiving relief. Clinton forgave about $10 million, Obama $23 million, and Trump's own first term $195 million, numbers this term has already blown past many times over.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

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Restitution isn't a government fine, it's money a court said belonged to the people who got robbed. Wiping it out doesn't make anybody whole, it just moves the loss from the man who caused it to the ones who already ate it once. And when the folks getting relief hired the right help first, you don't need a law degree to see what's being sold and what the price is.

Source: Read the original at The Conversation → Scored: Maple Leaf Rag · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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