In the hands of someone as transactionally motivated as President Donald Trump, the presidential prerogative to pardon and commute federal convictions has become a powerful tool. Throughout his first term, and again in his second, Trump regularly uses his pardon powers to reward allies and curry favor among Washington’s long list of criminally associated figures.
Although the president’s pardons frequently extend beyond the halls of political power to include international figures and celebrity notables, Trump has made a particular point of clearing the slate for elected officials with whom he often empathizes as fellow alleged victims of overzealous prosecution.
Rod Blagojevich
After initially commuting a raft of sentences (including wire fraud, solicitation of bribes, and lying to the FBI) against disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2020, Trump waited until Feb. 10, 2025, to fully pardon the Democratic lawmaker. The self-proclaimed “Trumpocrat” hailed the president as a “great effing guy” in response.
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Following his initial commutation, Blagojevich had become a “fierce defender of Trump as the president has faced his own legal battles,” Politico said. The pair’s relationship stretches back to Blagojevich's time as a cast member of Trump's popular NBC reality competition “The Apprentice,” from which he was fired in the fourth week.
George Santos
During his brief stint in Congress, former Republican Rep. George Santos made a name for himself as one of the most transparently fraudulent lawmakers in recent memory, while also luxuriating in the intense public spotlight. Nevertheless, Trump’s October 2025 decision to commute Santos’ seven-year prison sentence for wire fraud was the “latest in his flagrant misuse of the pardon power,” USA Today said. The commutation is further proof that Trump sees the justice system “through a pretty clear lens” as being “weaponized against people who Democrats politically disagree with,” said The New York Times reporter Michael Gold to NPR.
Rudy Giuliani
The former New York City mayor-turned-Trump-attack-dog Rudy Giuliani was already among the president’s highest-profile associates even before the president pardoned his onetime attorney for Giuliani’s role in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. The pardon, which came alongside similar acts of clemency for Trump’s other 2020 electoral associates in November 2025, is “primarily symbolic” since “none of those named” in the latest batch of pardons are “currently facing federal charges,” The New York Times said. The federal pardons, then, are “part of a long-shot gambit” to “influence the state-level charges” faced by Giuliani and others by serving as a “persuasive authority for the argument that the cases should be tossed out,” said The Independent.
Henry Cuellar
Just weeks before ending the first year of his second term in office, Trump shocked many by pardoning Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who at the time faced bribery and corruption charges for allegedly influencing legislation on behalf of Azerbaijani and Mexican interests. Cuellar was indicted because the Biden administration “weaponized the justice system,” and targeted the lawmaker because he “bravely spoke out against” liberal immigration policies, Trump said. The pardon “may prove a headache for House Republicans,” said Axios, as the party had been eyeing Cuellar’s seat to expand its “agonizingly narrow majority.” Just days after his pardon, however, Trump “went after Cuellar on social media,” accusing the lawmaker of a “lack of loyalty” for running for reelection as a Democrat, said Texas Public Radio. He has since endorsed one of Cuellar’s opponents for the seat.
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Glen Casada
Just two months after former Republican Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada was sentenced to three years in prison on federal corruption charges, Trump pardoned both Casada and his former chief of staff. In a statement, the White House said the pair had been “significantly over-prosecuted” by the Biden administration for a “minor issue.” The initial investigation into Casada began “during Trump's first term,” NBC News said, while the January 2021 raid on Casada’s home occurred “while Trump was still in office.” Casada’s trial and sentencing were overseen by a Trump-appointed judge, as well.
John Rowland
At one time the nation’s youngest governor, Republican John Rowland had his “promising political career” completely “upended by a corruption scandal” and subsequent prison terms before he received a presidential pardon in May 2025, said The Associated Press. Having already served his time in prison, the “practical impact” of the pardon is “limited,” said CT Mirror. Under state law, Rowland’s right to vote “already had been restored.”
Michele Fiore
In October 2024, former Republican Las Vegas City councilor and onetime gubernatorial candidate Michele Fiore was convicted for her role in a charity fundraising scheme that had bilked donors with the promise of a memorial “honoring two Las Vegas police officers who had been killed in the line of duty,” said the Justice Department. Just a few months later, Trump wiped Fiore’s legal slate clean in the “latest example of the president using his pardon power to reward allies,” said Politico at the time. “Notably,” said The Nevada Independent, Trump’s pardon came shortly after he’d named Sigal Chattah the interim U.S. Attorney for Nevada. Chattah “also serves as the state’s Republican National Committeewoman,” and is “friends with Fiore.”
Michael Grimm
Former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) raised eyebrows in 2014 after he overcame his November indictment for tax fraud by handily winning reelection — only to plead guilty on one count and resign in January 2015. As a lawmaker, Grimm “made headlines” for “threatening to throw a reporter off a balcony in the Capitol,” said The Associated Press, after the journalist “asked about the long-running FBI investigation into his campaign finances.” Trump’s pardon of Grimm in 2025 stems from his “constitutional authority to right the wrongs of Americans who’ve been impacted by this corrupt system,” a White House spokesperson told The New York Times.
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
