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Trump Flaunts Pardon Rules — and Costs Victims and Taxpayers More than $1 Billion
Trump has pardoned over 1,600 individuals including rioters and fraudsters, often ignoring Justice Department guidelines, costing taxpayers more than $1.3 billion, legal experts say.
- Earlier this year, President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 Jan. 6, 2021 attack rioters hours after taking office and has granted over 1,600 clemencies in six months.
- Amid established clemency rules, the Department of Justice's Justice Manual requires applicants to show remorse, but many pardons bypass these standards, legal experts say.
- Among the early clemency actions, Trump pardoned David Daniel, who faced child pornography and sexual assault charges, in March 2025.
- The pardon backlog swelled from just under 5,000 to 11,664 pending cases by July 15, costing taxpayers and crime victims over $1.3 billion.
- Amid legal scrutiny, Lee Kovarsky warns that `patronage pardoning`, cited by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, risks violating norms and immunity standards, legal experts say.
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Trump flaunts pardon rules — and costs victims and taxpayers more than $1 billion
Chip Somodevilla // Getty Images Trump flaunts pardon rules — and costs victims and taxpayers more than $1 billion Their cases were different. One faced a four-year prison sentence in a $675 million fraud case for marketing an electric truck that wasn’t drivable. Another tried to overthrow the government. A tax cheat avoided prison and $4.4 million in restitution after his mom donated $1 million to the president. Their cases have two things in c…
·Idaho Falls, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources23
Leaning Left3Leaning Right5Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution53% Center
Bias Distribution
- 53% of the sources are Center
53% Center
L 18%
C 53%
R 29%
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