President Donald Trump, whose final day in office is tomorrow, is likely to issue almost 100 pardons sources say.
Trump handed out a number of pardons during December and the beginning of January. White House aides cite Trump as focused on his Electoral College legal battles and unwilling to sign off on pardons that he would have very likely have approved in the months before.
Experts say that Trump’s final pardons are likely to both focus on traditional criminal justice reform candidates, as well as his political allies.
While many believed Trump would also attempt a self-pardon just before he leaves office, advisers have convinced him to forgo it. A self-pardon would imply guilt and is likely be contested in court.
A growing number of attorneys representing those arrested during the Capitol riots have been asking for presidential pardons for their clients. Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News that “to seek pardons for these people would be wrong,” but the president has made no official comment as to whether he will pardon the Capitol rioters.
Trump has equally made no indication if he will pardon allies like Steve Bannon, or public figures like Julian Assange.
