Trump to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on final day in office: Media reports

US President Donald Trump is preparing to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, as per a CNN report.

The first clause of Article II Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution provides: “The President … shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”

The pardons are one of several items President Trump must complete before his presidency ends in days. The final batch of clemency actions is expected to include a mix of criminal justice reform-minded pardons and more controversial ones secured or doled out to political allies.

But the clemency actions are not expected to include Trump himself. After the Capitol riots, advisers have reportedly encouraged Trump to forgo a self-pardon because it would appear like he was guilty of something.

People close to President Donald Trump have been able to pocket tens of thousands of dollars from convicts seeking pardons from President Donald Trump, as per a story published by The New York Times.

One lobbyist has reportedly monetized his clemency work to lobby the White House for clemency for the son of a former Arkansas senator - the founder of the notorious online drug marketplace Silk Road; and a Manhattan socialite who pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme.

A onetime top adviser to the Trump campaign was allegedly paid $50,000 to help seek a pardon for a former C.I.A. officer convicted of illegally disclosing classified information, and agreed to a $50,000 bonus payment if the President granted it, according to an agreement referred to by The New York Times.

The pardon power remains one of the last and most likely outlets for quick unilateral action by an increasingly isolated President, facing a second impeachment.

President Donald Trump had reportedly discussed issuing pardons for himself and his children, as per a report by CNN quoting multiple sources familiar with the matter. CNN reported that Trump's White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and former Attorney General Bill Barr advised President Trump against pardoning himself.

Barr believes a 1974 Justice Department legal memo finding that the President cannot pardon himself should stand. The said legal memo categorically states: "Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself".

One source told CNN that Trump intends to issue pardons beyond just his family members. "More people than you would expect. Rudy is an obvious one," the person said, referring to Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Dr. Salomon Melgen, a prominent eye doctor from Palm Beach, Florida, who is in prison after being convicted on dozens of counts of health care fraud, is also expected to be included in the clemency list, three sources familiar told CNN.

Inside the White House, there has been a scramble to petition for pardons on behalf of allies and advocacy groups and names could be added and taken off up until the last minute, as per media reports.

In the recent past, U.S. Presidents simply hadn’t politicized the Presidential pardon process to the extent that Trump has done so. Margaret Love, who served as the United States pardon attorney at the Justice Department for most of the 1990s, said that this “kind of off-books influence peddling, special-privilege system denies consideration to the hundreds of ordinary people who have obediently lined up as required by Justice Department rules, and is a basic violation of the longstanding effort to make this process at least look fair.”

There are few historical parallels. Perhaps the closest occurred in the final hours of Bill Clinton’s administration when he issued 170 pardons and commutations. But even Clinton, who was seen as flouting protocols, mostly rewarded people who had gone through an intensive Justice Department review process intended to identify and vet the most deserving recipients from among thousands of clemency applications. Trump has shunned that process more than any recent President, creating an ad hoc system in the White House.

(V Venkateswara Rao is an alumnus of IIM, Ahmedabad and a retired corporate professional)