D'Souza was prosecuted by Preet Bhara. Martha Stewart by James Comey... hmmmm

[hlthe2b]

[samnsara]

1. well at least THEY did their job right..

..Comey addressed Martha in his book. He might be Ok with her pardon as well.

[hlthe2b]

2. Yes.. he might. I'm simply suspecting this is additional impetus for Trump to pardon

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. As Deputy AG, Comey referred the Valerie Plame matter to a Special Counsel...

....which resulted in Scooter Libby's conviction, which Trump pardoned.

That one was a two-fer fuck you, both to Comey personally, and to the notion of a Special Counsel.

[hlthe2b]

4. Yup

[oasis]

5. Martha should make it known that she wants no favors from Trump. nt

[FarPoint]

6. She will play it Smart...

She is savvy.

[oasis]

8. It would be different if she was still in the slammer.

Right now, there's no upside in being perceived as a pal of Trump.

[FarPoint]

14. She will think this thru...

I have confidence.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. And both Stewart and Blagojevich were on The Apprentice.

But this writer doesn't think that's the reason:

Most think that Stewart was found guilty of insider trading in 2004, but she was actually charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to the FBI, felonies that are central to the ongoing Mueller investigation. (Also noteworthy: James Comey oversaw the Martha Stewart investigation.) Stewart spent five months in prison and five months under house arrest for her crimes and has emerged every bit as successful as before she was incarcerated — so a pardon would do her little good now....

Blagojevich was convicted of corruption for attempting to sell President Obama’s vacant Illinois Senate seat for political favors, a crime that Trump has long felt was undeserving of such a lengthy sentence.

More here: http://fortune.com/2018/05/31/trump-pardons-martha-stewart-rod-blagojevich/

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. In a weird, roundabout way, Blagojevich was only convicted because Obama was elected President.

And yes, Trump really is that small and shallow for him to use an excuse to pardon. I'm not even joking.

[murielm99]

11. Blago was convicted because

he could not get along with Madigan. He deserved jail, but that is at the bottom of it.

Read the long, twisty story of putting Blago behind bars. Byzantine Illinois politics at its best is behind it.

[spanone]

9. he is using the pardon power for political retribution.

I M P E A C H

[grumpyduck]

12. So the message he's sending out now

Is, it's okay to break the law and get convicted, 'cuz POTUS can throw the conviction away.

IOW, it's ok to be a criminal.

Yeah, great example there, pal. And great example for Congress to be setting too, letting you get away with it.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

13. The *ahem* coincidences are interesting.