In total, Trump pardoned 26 people and commuted the sentences of three more people — the second consecutive night of what is expected to be a flurry of acts of clemency before he leaves office.
The pardons and commutations to such close allies showcase Trump's willingness to flout the norms of presidential conduct.
Among the pardons made by President Trump this week, the pardon of four former guards for Blackwater has been regarded by some as particularly galling.
Paul Manafort
Manafort, who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after being convicted of bank and tax fraud in addition to other crimes, was released in May from a minimum-security federal lockup and moved to home confinement over concerns about the coronavirus.
"As a result of blatant prosecutorial overreach, Mr. Manafort has endured years of unfair treatment and is one of the most prominent victims of what has been revealed to be perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American history," the White House press secretary said in a statement announcing the pardon.
Shortly after the announcement, Manafort expressed his gratitude to the President on Twitter. "Mr. President, my family & I humbly thank you for the Presidential Pardon you bestowed on me. Words cannot fully convey how grateful we are," he wrote.
Manafort spent his career as a high-level power broker and advocate for some of the most infamous clients in the world, including dictators Ferdinand Marcos and Mobutu Sese Seko.
In the 2000s, Manafort connected with Viktor Yanukovych, a Russia-friendly strongman who served as president of Ukraine until he was thrown out of power in a popular revolt. Manafort made millions of dollars working for Yanukovych, but his work in Ukraine set the stage for Manafort's eventual prosecution and imprisonment.
Manafort and his protege, Rick Gates, hid from authorities the money they earned in Ukraine and came to the attention of U.S. investigators before the two went to work in 2016 for then-candidate Donald Trump.
Charles Kushner
Charles Kushner is the father of Jared Kushner, who serves as a senior advisor to the president and is married to Ivanka Trump. The real estate billionaire served two years in prison for tax evasion and retaliating against a federal witness — his brother-in-law.
After making a fortune in New Jersey, the developer came under investigation in 2003 by then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie for making illegal campaign contributions.
Kushner's brother-in-law and former employee, William Schulder, eventually became a witness for federal prosecutors. In a move to exact revenge on him for the perceived betrayal, Kushner devised a bizarre blackmail plot: He hired a prostitute to sleep with Schulder, secretly video-taped the encounter, then mailed a tape of it to his own sister.
But the move backfired. Schulder and his wife turned the tape over to prosecutors.
Christie later called the case, "one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes," he'd ever prosecuted.
In the end, Kushner pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness, and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission.
On Wednesday, the White House cited Kushner's philanthropy as one of the reasons for Trump's pardon.
"Since completing his sentence in 2006, Mr. Kushner has been devoted to important philanthropic organizations and causes, such as Saint Barnabas Medical Center and United Cerebral Palsy," said the president's statement. "This record of reform and charity overshadows Mr. Kushner's conviction and 2 year sentence for preparing false tax returns, witness retaliation, and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission."
Roger Stone
The case against Stone was brought by then-special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible ties between Moscow and the Trump campaign.
Stone was indicted on charges of lying to Congress about what he and then-candidate Trump knew about Russian efforts to discredit Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign, witness tampering and obstruction. The charges related to his efforts during the 2016 presidential race to act as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks.
But days before Stone, who is Trump's longtime friend and political confidant, was to report to prison in July, the president commuted the 40-month prison sentence.
Democrats were so outraged by Trump's July decision, that it prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call for legislation that would limit the presidential pardon powers and prevent future leaders from granting clemency to individuals who acted to shield that president from prosecution. Pelosi called it "an act of staggering corruption."
House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff of California called it "a real body blow to the rule of law in this country."
Shock And Dismay After Trump Pardons Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians
Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were convicted six years ago in the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians and the wounding of 17 others. Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing on Baghdad's Nisour Square with heavy gunfire and grenade launchers.
In 2007, Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were working as Blackwater guards on an assignment to protect a U.S. convoy in Baghdad. But a jury found they instead ambushed innocent civilians without provocation. On Sept. 16, 2007, the ex-guards opened fire with machine guns and grenade launchers in Baghdad's Nisour Square, killing 14 unarmed civilians and wounding 17 others. All four men were convicted in 2014 for their roles in the massacre on charges ranging from first-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter.
Slatten was convicted of murdering the driver of a white Kia that was stopped in the square. As NPR reported, the court's opinion stated, "The government's case against Slatten hinged on his having fired the first shots, his animosity toward the Iraqis having led him to target the white Kia unprovoked."
The men, as well as Blackwater officials, all maintained that the for-hire guards were attacked first. Defense attorneys also accused witnesses of fabricating their testimony.
Blackwater Worldwide — whose founder and former CEO Erik Prince is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos — was banned from serving U.S. contracts in Iraq in 2009.
Hassan Salman is among the Iraqis who were shot during the ambush. He told NPR on Wednesday that he was shocked by Trump's pardons — he himself had made trips to the U.S. to give testimony in the proceedings against the four.
"Today we were surprised that the American president issued a decision to pardon these criminals, murderers and thugs," Salman said, speaking from Baghdad. "I'm really shocked. ... The American judiciary is fair and equitable. I had never imagined that Trump or any other politician would affect American justice."
The U.N. Human Rights Office says it's "deeply concerned" by the pardons.
"These four individuals were given sentences ranging from 12 years to life imprisonment, including on charges of first-degree murder," spokesperson Marta Hurtado said in a statement. "Pardoning them contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future."
But supporters of the military contractors, who argued the investigation was tainted and the punishments too severe, cheered the news.
"These are four innocent guys, and it is completely justified," Bill Coffield, a lawyer for Evan Liberty, told the AP.
Paul Dickinson is a lawyer who represented six Iraqi families in a civil lawsuit against Blackwater He said that the victims' families are likely to feel let down and abandoned by the U.S. government.
"This was the slaughter of innocent civilians who were merely going about their day when a Blackwater convoy rolled through a traffic circle after having violated orders to stand down and not exit the Green Zone — and began firing indiscriminately into cars that were carrying people going to work."
The bullets rained through the roofs of cars, taxis and buses, he says. And afterward, Iraqi citizens wanted to ensure that those who had done this were held responsible.
Dickinson says the great expense that the FBI put into the prosecution of the case has now come to nothing.
The pardons could damage the United States' reputation abroad, as they undo the significance of the convictions, which had demonstrated that U.S. military contractors could be held accountable if they conducted criminal actions.
That notion has now been shown to be false, Dickinson said.
