Rudy Giuliani Predicts Presidential Pardons For Convicted Trump Allies

Rudy Giuliani

And there it is...

From The New York Daily News:

In one of his most forceful attacks on the special counsel yet, Rudy Giuliani on Friday claimed the Russia investigation could get “cleaned up” with pardons from President Trump in light Paul Manafort being sent to jail.

“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” the former New York mayor told the Daily News.

Giuliani’s stunning remark came hours after a Washington, D.C., judge revoked Manafort’s bail and ordered him to remain behind bars while awaiting his September trial on charges relating to his shady pro-Russian business dealings in Ukraine. The ruling came after Robert Mueller’s investigators alleged Manafort had attempted to tamper with witnesses in the Russia investigation.

Whoa. Pretty close to a promise of a pardon to Trump associates if they don't flip. https://t.co/FK2cAzF4Wr

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 15, 2018

Giuliani is now floating the idea of presidential pardons for Manafort - at a time he is being pressured to cooperate. Floating such an idea now is unquestionably obstruction. Pardons are for rewarding people who atoned or have unjust sentences. NOT to reward criminal friends.

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 15, 2018

Notable that Rudy felt it was necessary to explicitly reassure Manafort today that a pardon is in the cards.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 15, 2018

Expect More Pardons From Donald Trump

Donald Trump likes pardoning people

Donald Trump came into the White House expecting to run his administration the way he'd run the Trump Organization.

The Trumpster expected to be able to make decisions and snap his fingers and his bidding would be done.

But the reality of working in government was a learning curve for the Donald.

From judges holding up his executive orders to Congress' glacial pace on legislation, this president needed instant gratification.

And he's found it in this one presidential power that no one can dispute.

From CNN:

The White House has assembled the paperwork to pardon dozens of people, two sources with knowledge of the developments tell CNN, signaling that President Donald Trump is poised to exert his constitutional power and intervene, in some instances, where he believes the Justice Department has overstepped.

The administration has prepared the pardoning paperwork for at least 30 people, the sources tell CNN. One of those is Alice Johnson, the 63-year-old Tennessee woman who was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 on charges related to cocaine possession and money laundering.

Kim Kardashian West met with Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Oval Office last week in an attempt to convince him to pardon her. Trump has not yet decided whether he will move forward with either a pardon or commutation for Johnson.

The White House announced today that Trump has commuted Johnson's sentence.

I do think a life sentence for Johnson, who apparently was only involved in communications regarding the drug charge, is way steep.

But some folks are wary that Trump is setting an odd and unsettling precedent.

Alice Johnson’s pardon should terrify everyone. Trump can be manipulated into anything by anyone willing to flatter him.

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) June 6, 2018

looking forward to Snooki convincing Trump to pardon Edward Snowden

— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) June 6, 2018

It’s all prelude. Trump is setting a precedent as a pardon-happy president so that when the time comes he can point to an established, broad pattern ... to justify pardoning his cronies & family. https://t.co/yrv6Sp2aFV

— Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 (@DemWrite) June 6, 2018