"In mid-October, Trump commuted the prison sentence of Santos, the disgraced New York Republican who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft last year. Days later the president handed a full and unconditional pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, who pleaded guilty to money laundering charges. Binance has ties to the Trump family's cryptocurrency business, but Trump said in an interview with 60 Minutes that he does not know who Zhao is."
"U.S. presidents are given broad authority to nullify convictions or sentences for federal crimes without the involvement of Congress or the Supreme Court. The legal principle is a holdover from English law, in which the king had what was known as the "prerogative of mercy" as early as the seventh century. While Trump has granted clemency to a wide range of people convicted of federal crimes, from nonviolent drug offenders to white-collar criminals,"
President Trump issued pardons for Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows and others accused of attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Recent clemency grants included former Rep. George Santos and Changpeng Zhao, the ex-CEO of Binance. Former President Joe Biden holds the record with 4,245 clemency actions. U.S. presidents possess broad authority to nullify federal convictions or sentences, tracing to the English prerogative of mercy. Trump's first-term pardons included political allies and celebrity-advocated cases, and his second-term actions amplify political and personal connections while signaling more explicit political intent through the pardon power.
Read at www.npr.org
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