In recent years, Republican members of the House of Representatives have had a crime rate that seems comparable to that of the most perilous of American neighborhoods, at least going by the growing list of those granted clemency by President Trump.
The latest of these criminals/legislators to receive Mr. Trump’s largess is George Santos, the former congressman from Long Island. The president’s commutation meant that Mr. Santos was released from prison after serving 84 days of an 87-month sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Over his two terms, Mr. Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of a raft of former Republican members of the House. Among those receiving such grants were:
Duke Cunningham, of California, who was convicted of taking over $2 million in bribes, among other crimes;
Duncan Hunter, also of California, who pocketed thousands of dollars of campaign contributions and spent it on extramarital affairs;
Rick Renzi, of Arizona, who was convicted of racketeering and extortion;
Robin Hayes, of North Carolina, who lied to investigators in a bribery investigation;
Chris Collins, of New York, who pleaded guilty to insider trading and false statements;
Michael Grimm, also of New York, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion and also admitted in court that he committed perjury and hired undocumented immigrants;
John Rowland, of Connecticut, a former governor as well as congressman, who pleaded guilty to election fraud after going to prison years earlier in a separate scandal; and
Steve Stockman, of Texas, who was released after serving only two years of a 10-year sentence for stealing upward of $1 million.
What do all these individuals have in common? Political support for President Trump. As Mr. Trump put it in his social media post announcing the latest commutation, “Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”
The one prominent Democrat whom Mr. Trump has favored proves the same point:
Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor, who had engaged in a criminal scheme to sell the Senate seat of Barack Obama after he was elected president.
Mr. Trump commuted the sentence of, then later pardoned, Mr. Blagojevich after he became an outspoken supporter. (A pardon wipes out all effects of a criminal conviction, like restrictions on voting or owning firearms; a commutation erases a sentence but not the underlying conviction.)
Mr. Trump’s transactional use of his clemency powers conflicts with the reason the pardon power was included in the Constitution in the first place.
