The Wall Street Journal Finds That $1 Million Is the Going Rate for Crooks to Obtain Fast-Track Pardons From Trump

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-wall-street-journal-finds-that

The Wall Street Journal recently published an exposé on the going price for a Trump pardon:

As a string ensemble played in the background, Donald Trump Jr. walked up with lobbyist Ches McDowell to chat with the president. Trump Jr. at one point pulled McDowell forward to shake the president’s hand, according to a livestream broadcast. After they went inside, McDowell took the president aside to discuss a pressing issue, according to people familiar with the matter: One of his clients was seeking a pardon.

The client was Changpeng Zhao, founder of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance. That afternoon, the president agreed to sign Zhao’s pardon, the people said.

Zhao was one of the beneficiaries of a new, informal path to presidential pardons that has become a feature of Trump’s second term, which allows some clemency applicants with deep pockets or politically connected lobbyists to circumvent the traditional pardon process.

The new approach—driven in part by Trump’s own experience as a criminal defendant, people close to him say—has spawned a pardon-shopping industry where lobbyists say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal, according to people familiar with the offers. …

[tonkatoy8888]

1. "...a new, informal path to presidential pardons..."

Holy fuck, is that what we call bribery now?

We've reached the medieval pope selling indulgences portion of the program.

And ICE shooting people in the face is a new, informal path to jurisprudence.

[moondust]

2. How many voters

endorsed, donated to, and voted for the convicted felon precisely because they knew how utterly corrupt he is and knew he would have pardons for sale? Didn't he just sell a second pardon to somebody?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. MaddowBlog-The controversy surrounding Trump's pardons goes from bad to worse

The White House has confronted questions for months about whether presidential pardons are effectively for sale. Those questions just got louder.

The White House has confronted questions for months about whether presidential pardons are effectively for sale.

Those questions are quite a bit louder now.

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-01-19T19:21:22.799Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/the-controversy-surrounding-trumps-pardons-goes-from-bad-to-worse

As the first year of Donald Trump’s second term progressed, and the list of scandalous presidential pardons grew, the White House confronted a question without modern precedent: Were pardons effectively for sale?....

Last week, these concerns reached a new level. The New York Times reported:

In late 2024, while [Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan-Italian banker] was facing felony bribery and other charges in the case, his daughter, Isabela Herrera, donated $2.5 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC devoted to Mr. Trump and run by his allies.

In May, her father’s lawyer, Christopher M. Kise, who had served on Mr. Trump’s legal defense team, negotiated an unusually lenient deal with the Justice Department. Under the deal, which was authorized by a top Trump appointee, Mr. Herrera agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance charge, disappointing career prosecutors who had pushed for a harsher sentence.

Two months later, Isabela Herrera donated another $1 million to MAGA Inc., culminating in a pardon from Trump late last week. (The White House claimed the political contributions did not lead to the pardon.)

The Times’ Peter Baker summarized the circumstances this way: “Her father faced bribery charges. She donated $2.5 million to a pro-Trump Super PAC. Trump’s Justice Department gave her father a lenient deal, overruling prosecutors. She gave another $1 million. Now Trump has pardoned her dad.”....

Last fall, during a briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “When it comes to pardons, the White House takes them with the utmost seriousness.” The president’s top spokesperson added that each pardon is subjected to “a very thorough review process,” conducted by a team of “qualified lawyers.”

I continue to believe this was one of the more unintentionally amusing things Leavitt has ever said.

As for the bigger picture, the bottom line appears increasingly unavoidable: Trump is abusing his pardon power; he apparently knows that he’s abusing his pardon power; he knows that we know he’s abusing his pardon power; and he just doesn’t seem to care.