No One’s Pardoning Trump’s Use of Pardon Power – Update for January 8, 2026

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NO ONE’S HAPPY ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S EPIC CLEMENCY PARADE

If there is a unifying thread of reaction to President Trump’s unprecedented train of pardons and commutations in 2025, it’s one of disquiet.

Trump granted clemency this year to over 1,600 people. The biggest tranche was the first one – 1500-plus people getting clemency (14 just commutations, the rest pardons) for the January 6, 2021, riot. Since then, he has commuted another 13 sentences and pardoned 72 others. For a range of figures, Trump said he viewed them as victims of an unfair justice system. Some were tied to his newfound interest in cryptocurrency or shared in his 2020 election grievances, while another (a Texas developer involved in bid-rigging) was simply brought up to Trump during a round of golf with a Republican buddy.

Twenty of the pardons went to businessmen, 16 to politicians, five to celebrities, 24 to anti-abortion activists, and 12 to people convicted of other non-drug offenses.  Only eight were for drug crimes, and those included the guy who started the Silk Road deep-web drug bazaar and a former Honduran president.

More than half of the acts of clemency for named individuals relate to prosecutions pursued by the Biden Dept of Justice — in addition to the Jan 6 cases.

Even Fox News was critical, saying, “While presidents of both parties have long used their pardon power in controversial ways, Trump’s clemency activity in 2025 stood out for its volume and for the deal-making style that has been a defining feature of his approach to power.” Fox listed Trump’s most controversial clemencies as including the Jan 6 rioters, Texas congressman Henry Cuellar (bribery charges, not yet to trial), the Chrisleys, former congressman George Santos (widespread fraud), and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez (serving a 45-year sentence for the same charges just made this past weekend against Nicholas Maduro and his wife).

Attorney Mitch Jackson, writing on Substack, said Trump had “corruptly commodified one of the most potent parts of the presidency and turned it into a product to be sold to the highest bidder.”

The scheme works like this: People seeking clemency pay about $1 million to hire well-placed lobbyists within the administration who then work to secure a pardon from Trump. If those pardons are successful, the person receiving clemency may also pay a six-to-seven-figure “success fee” after the president signs the paperwork guaranteeing their release, according to the essay.

In one instance, Donald Trump, Jr., introduced a lobbyist named Ches McDowell to the president while McDowell was seeking a pardon for Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of Binance. Binance reportedly paid $800,000 to McDowell for the work and then offered a success fee of more than $5 million once Zhao was freed.

Trump pardoned Zhao, who had been convicted of money laundering, last October. Whether a success fee was paid, and if so for how much, has not been reported. However, Rep Maxine Waters (D-CA) claimed that Zhao “spent months lobbying Trump and his family while funneling billions into Trump’s personal crypto company,” World Liberty Financial. Reports indicate Binance parked $2 billion in WLFI’s stablecoin, generating about $80-87 million annually. The Trump family owns 60% of WLFI, meaning that Binance’s deposit meant the family could receive $48-52 million in passive income.

Jackson wrote:

In Donald Trump’s Washington, freedom has a price tag. The presidential pardon, one of the most serious powers granted by the Constitution, now looks like a product on a shelf. Picture what this means in real life. If you or someone you love faced an unjust sentence, would you have a million dollars for a broker. Most families do not. Your petition would sit in a stack, waiting for a formal review that can take years. Meanwhile, a billionaire pays for a direct line, and the request reaches the President through a family member at a ceremony. The system looks less like equal justice and more like a private club with a cover charge.

A cottage industry has arisen of lobbyists seeking clemency for a wide variety of clients. David Schoen, one of Trump’s former impeachment lawyers is following the same pardon playbook that has rewarded allies of the president and been driven by a desire for political retribution.

Schoen is representing two mobsters who were sentenced to life in 1992. In a Christmas Eve letter to Trump, Schoen sought clemency by arguing that they had been unfairly convicted by prosecutor Andrew Weissmann—a foe of Trump’s who led FBI director Robert Mueller’s special counsel team that investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Wall Street Journal, A Visual Breakdown of Trump’s Pardon Spree (December 10, 2025)

Raw Story, ‘Disturbing’: Lawyer exposes how Trump shredded a ‘core promise’ of American law (December 28, 2025)

Benzinga, Trump Pardoned 3 Crypto Felons In 10 Months—Here’s What Each One Cost (January 2, 2026)

Fox News, Deal-making clemency: Inside Trump’s most disputed pardons of 2025 (December 30, 2025)

Free Press, Ex-Trump Lawyer Lobbies to Free Mobsters Prosecuted by an Enemy of the President (December 31, 2025)

~ Thomas  L. Root