President Trump's Pardons: A New Low for Clemency

• In Event: Assessing the President's Impact on the Political System

Abstract

President Donald J. Trump’s approach to clemency has generally favored prominent Republicans, his supporters, and the well-connected. In recent weeks, he has abused the clemency power by pardoning former NSA Advisor Michael Flynn, former foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, longtime friend Roger Stone, former campaign manager Paul Manafort, four disgraced former members of Congress, controversial military figures, and others. In this paper, I review Trump’s clemency decisions from the latter part of his term and place them into context, considering who other recent “lame duck” presidents have pardoned. I then analyze the “self-pardon” question brought on by the end of Trump’s term. I conclude by considering how the clemency power could be reformed, and whether it should be.

Author

• Jeffrey Crouch, American University