Trump plans mass pardons for advisers at term's end

Donald Trump has reportedly indicated he will issue mass pardons to his closest advisers at the end of his second presidential term. During casual conversations over the past year, Trump stated, "I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval [Office]," according to a Wall Street Journal report citing an anonymous source. Another source mentioned he had previously used a smaller radius of 10 feet. Additionally, there are claims that Trump may host a news conference to announce these pardons.

In response to the report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt remarked, "The Wall Street Journal should learn to take a joke. However, the president’s pardon power is absolute." Since beginning his second term, Trump has granted clemency to over 1,800 individuals, including 1,500 participants of the January 6 Capitol attack on his first day in office.

A Trump-appointed federal prosecutor recently had to deny a dismissal request from a man accused of planting pipe bombs near the national committee headquarters, who argued his charges should be cleared due to Trump's pardons. The judge overseeing the case has not yet responded to this request. Many of Trump's clemency actions have been perceived as rebukes to the justice system following his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden, who sought to prosecute Trump for various alleged offenses.

In October, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who had been sentenced to prison for failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program. The White House stated that Zhao was "prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency." Trump also commuted the sentence of former congressman George Santos, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud, stating, "He lied like hell. But he was 100% for Trump."