Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos was granted a pardon
Credit: AFP
If there’s one thing that keeps Donald Trump up at night — apart from the 2020 election result — it’s probably his lingering rage over the Russia inquiry.
The search for signs of collusion between his 2016 campaign and the Kremlin poisoned his presidency from the start.
It led to the jailing of more than one person in his inner circle. Now, with days left in the White House, he is taking revenge.
A wave of pardons Mr Trump issued on Tuesday night showed he is determined to undo the results of special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry.
There were pardons for former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, and lawyer Alex van der Zwaan. Both were convicted of lying to investigators during the Russia investigation. Papadopoulos served 12 days, Van der Zwaan 30 days.
List of 15 people pardoned by Trump
It brought to four the number of Russia-related pardons or commutations.
Mr Trump had already pardoned Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, who was convicted of lying to the FBI, and commuted the sentence of Roger Stone, his longtime friend.
Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman, will be watching with interest. During the Russia investigation he was jailed for seven years for offences including financial crimes and witness tampering. Mr Manafort did not turn on Mr Trump, and a pardon may be on the horizon.
For Mr Trump loyalty is a hugely important quality, and he will reward those who showed it. But, more than that, erasing convictions secured by Mr Mueller is an attempt to delegitimise an inquiry that plagued his time in office.
Much of Mr Trump’s energy was taken up fighting against what he saw as a Democrat-led persecution, rather than pursuing his policy agenda.
During the inquiry his aides were taken to an office building in southern Washington and grilled for hours by Mr Mueller’s team.
At the time one of them told me it was like going to a proctology appointment. He said the "stress of it all was huge".
Although Mr Trump was not impeached over what he called the Russia "witch hunt", it left an indelible stain, including the sense among his officials that the White House was under siege.
The White House said the pardons would "help correct the wrong that Mueller’s team inflicted on so many people". Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, emphasised that Papadopoulos and Van der Zwaan had been convicted of "process-related" crimes.
Others disagreed with that assessment. John Dean, the Watergate whistleblower, said: "All of Watergate was basically process crimes."
The Russia report's 32-month journey from inception to publication
But it seemed Mr Trump did not care whether a majority agreed with his decision or not. The most important thing was to hit back at Mr Mueller.
The president also issued pardons for three Republican politicians convicted of financial crimes. They included Chris Collins, who was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Mr Trump in 2016.
Also controversial was his decision to pardon four former US government contractors convicted over a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more a dozen Iraqi civilians dead.
But Mr Trump will be far from the first president to face criticism over pardons.
Article II of the US Constitution enshrines a president’s "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States" except in cases of impeachment. The provision itself came under fire when it was written.
The first controversial presidential pardon issued was by George Washington to organisers of the Whiskey Rebellion at the end of the 18th Century.
Others have included Gerald Ford’s pre-emptive and unconditional pardon of his predecessor Richard Nixon after Watergate.
And on his last day in office Bill Clinton issued 140 pardons, including highly controversial ones to a fugitive Democrat donor charged with fraud, and his own half brother over past drug convictions.
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