{"id":177709,"date":"2021-01-25T12:00:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=177709"},"modified":"2021-01-22T06:37:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T06:37:41","slug":"trump-pardons-bannon-grants-clemency-to-reactionaries-and-criminals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/01\/trump-pardons-bannon-grants-clemency-to-reactionaries-and-criminals\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Pardons Bannon, Grants Clemency to Reactionaries and Criminals"},"content":{"rendered":"

21 Jan 2021 – <\/em>President Donald Trump ended his presidency by granting clemency to 144 individuals, including one of his top fascist advisers, Stephen Bannon. On his way out of the White House, Trump issued 74 pardons and commuted the sentences of 70 others.<\/p>\n

While there were a number of pardons and commutations for those convicted of low-level drug and weapons offenses, the vast bulk were reserved for convicted felons who had ties to Trump and were previously found guilty of evading or falsifying taxes, money laundering, insider trading or defrauding the US government.<\/p>\n

Despite much speculation, Trump did not preemptively pardon himself, members of his family or those in the Trump organization. His lawyers advised against pardoning himself in light of the upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate, arguing that a self-pardon could give the appearance of guilt.<\/p>\n

Now that he is a private citizen, Trump is also expected to face numerous lawsuits, civil and possibly criminal, in state courts, which will not be covered by a federal pardon. His legal advisers argued that a self-pardon could negatively impact his defense.<\/p>\n

Topping the list of notable criminals to receive a pardon is former chief strategist and senior White House counselor Stephen Bannon. Prior to becoming CEO of Trump\u2019s 2016 election campaign, Bannon served as the executive chairman of Breitbart News, which, under his leadership, became the leading hate rag for the \u201calt-right.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Steve Bannon in 2010 (Flickr\/Don Irvine)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bannon\u2019s fascistic politics were welcomed on the campaign trail and in the White House. Through the slogan \u201cAmerica First,\u201d Trump and Bannon articulated an ultranationalist, anti-immigrant, anti-Chinese, pseudo-populist message claiming to defend the interests of American workers by pitting them against their class brothers and sisters in Mexico, China and elsewhere around the world.<\/p>\n

Bannon was forced out of his White House post after seven months during the fallout from the fascist \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017. There is speculation that it was Bannon who suggested that Trump say \u201cthere were fine people on both sides,\u201d following the murder of antiracist activist Heather Heyer.<\/p>\n

According to anonymous insiders cited by CNN and the Washington Post<\/em>, there was considerable debate within the White House over the pardoning of Bannon, particularly in light of his role in the January 6 storming of the US Capitol. While legal advisers advised against a pardon, Trump, with an eye toward his continuing goal of building an American fascist movement, overrode their recommendations and granted the pardon.<\/p>\n