Donald Trump lost the US presidential election. The political struggle is still going on, but after the Supreme Court “washed its hands”, all the real chances of the Republican’s victory melted away. Trump has retained his weight in politics, and he has a good chance of a triumphant return, but for this, he needs to protect himself and his supporters from prosecution. And the tactic of “carpet pardons” is ideal for this. Among the last pardoned is the ex-head of Trump’s campaign headquarters Paul Manafort, who was convicted under the case of “Russian interference”.
Donald Trump has just under a month to rule America. And each of the remaining days in the White House will be dedicated to three main goals.
First, the US president will try to undermine the legitimacy of his successor. He has already achieved tremendous success in this matter – 47% of Americans do not consider Biden’s victory to be fair, and this will inevitably affect the Democrat’s rule.
Secondly, Trump is struggling to be remembered as the defender of the interests of ordinary Americans. For this, he imposed a presidential veto on a new plan to support victims of the coronavirus. According to him, the Americans were supposed to receive $ 600 per person, but Trump drew attention to the fact that the amount could grow to 2 thousand if we exclude spending on such items of expenditure as supporting feminism in the Middle East and improving life in Sudan. Most likely, Congress will overcome the presidential veto, but Trump’s protest will definitely be remembered by ordinary Americans.
Thirdly, Donald Trump is trying to protect himself, his relatives, and associates from criminal prosecution. Opponents of the incumbent president have put pressure on his supporters several times, trying to get them to hand over compromising evidence on Trump. The most famous victim of this pressure was General Michael Flynn, who was pardoned by the incumbent on Thanksgiving Day.
Michael Flynn turned out to be the “first sign”. The US President does not hide the fact that he plans to carry out a massive distribution of pardons to his associates. After all of the charges were cleared by Flynn, it was the turn of a number of longtime supporters of the incumbent head of state.
On Wednesday, December 23, President Trump pardoned convicted Roger Stone. Stone was one of the key strategists in his campaign, and he was to be a key link in the investigation of “Russian interference” in the American elections.
Special Prosecutor Mueller was unable to prove Stone’s connections with Russian agents, but in the end, the political strategist was accused of perjury and sent to prison. In fact, it was an attempt at blackmail: either you “hand over” Trump, or you go to jail. Stone did not betray the former boss, and the president did not abandon his supporter in response – now Roger Stone is officially clean before the law.
A similar story happened with the former chairman of the billionaire’s campaign, Paul Manafort. He also served as a defendant in a Russian interference case but was only convicted of tax fraud. The court sentenced him to 7.5 years behind bars, but Trump freed Manafort from this sentence.
Among the lucky ones was the father of the President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Charles Kushner was convicted back in the mid-2000s for numerous tax fraud. This businessman was not an ardent supporter of Trump, but he fell into the category of “relatives” and also received his “Christmas” pardon.
In total, Trump pardoned 26 people, mainly his supporters who suffered during the investigation of Special Prosecutor Mueller. However, this is hardly the end of the distribution of indulgences.
According to insiders, the president has long had an idea to protect his inner circle from criminal prosecution. Donald Trump fears that they will try to pressure him and finally force him to leave politics, starting investigations against his children. In this case, the president can pardon them in advance. This is a complete indulgence, it “nullifies” all crimes. No matter what the president’s children are accused of, they will remain unpunished.
Also, the current American leader can arrange a massive distribution of pardons to those who most zealously defended his position during the debate over the legitimacy of the 2020 elections. These people have caused enormous irritation among the opponents of the Republican, and investigations may be opened against them simply for their desire for revenge. This is how President’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his colleague Sidney Powell and some other figures are among the ideological Trumpists.
Democrats are outraged by this strategy of the president. They call such pardons “selfish” and even illegal. However, the owner of the White House has the right to release anyone he wants from responsibility. Trump is confident that if he does not protect his supporters, they will fall victim to Democratic revenge. Therefore, the current president will try to protect “his own” – while he can still do it.
