Trump Cronies Reportedly Cashing In As They Lobby President For Wealthy
Felon Pardons
Lucrative "market" for pardons kicks into high gear just days before Trump
is supposed to be heading out the door, The New York Times reports.

By Mary Papenfuss, HuffPost US

Donald Trump�s friends and allies are profiting from wealthy felons who
are paying them to lobby the president for pardons, The New York Times
revealed in a bombshell report Sunday.

The �market� for pardons � which cuts out the poor and those not
politically connected � reflects the �access peddling that has defined�
Trump�s presidency, as well as his unorthodox use of his clemency powers
to reward friends, the Times noted.

Trump is expected to issue 100 pardons and sentence commutations on
Tuesday, CNN reported.

Presidential pardons are typically meted out in compassion to those who
have more than served a just penalty, or who may have been too-harshly
treated by the criminal justice system.

Trump has used his power to reward those with powerful connections, as
well as friends and allies � including those who may harbor damning
evidence about his own behavior.

The lucrative push for pardons has hit high gear just days before Trump is
to leave office, according to the Times report, which was based on
documents and interviews with more than three dozen lawyers and lobbyists.

One lobbyist, Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor with ties to the
White House, collected at least tens of thousands of dollars in the last
weeks to push the White House for clemency for the son of a former
Arkansas senator, the founder of the online drug marketplace Silk Road,
and a Manhattan socialite, according to the Times.

A former adviser to the Trump campaign was paid $50,000 to seek a pardon
for former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who was convicted of illegally
leaking classified information, the newspaper reported. The adviser was to
collect an additional $50,000 bonus if the president came through with the
pardon, according to a copy of an agreement obtained by the Times.

Kiriakou was also told that Trump�s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani,
could get a pardon for him for $2 million, the Times reported. Giuliani
denied that claim.

Trump has reportedly been considering granting preemptive pardons for his
children, his son-in-law Jared Kushner (he already pardoned Jared�s
father, Charles Kushner, for tax evasion), Giuliani � and even for
himself.

Officials are also fearful he could issue blanket pardons to his
supporters who stormed the Capitol Jan. 6.

An attorney for Jacob Anthony Chansley, the shirtless, horned, conspiracy
theory-touting U.S. Capitol rioter, is calling for a pardon from Trump
because he says his client was inspired by the president to take action.

In a long list of shocking earlier decisions, Trump has already pardoned
felons in his campaign or administration, including former campaign
chairman Paul Manafort and campaign foreign policy adviser George
Papadopoulos, and his one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Trump�s longtime adviser Roger Stone, whom the president pardoned after he
was convicted of seven felonies, admitted he had information that could
have hurt the president, and appeared to be holding out until he got his
pardon.

The president �knows I was under enormous pressure to turn on him,� Stone
told NBC journalist Howard Fineman earlier this year. �It would have eased
my situation considerably. But I didn�t.�

Those pardoned have also included war criminals and law enforcement
officers who violated civil rights.