Trump adds former NYPD commissioner, financier convicted in fraud schemes to pardon spree

(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

published 18 February 2020

President Trump's clemency philosophy is clearly go big or go home.

After pardoning ex-San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. and commuting the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday, Trump turned around added some more high-profile people to the list. Former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik and prominent financier Michael Milken are among those Trump pardoned Tuesday, while also bringing nonviolent drug offenders into the mix.

The White House statement announcing Trump's clemency decisions homes in on the positive things these convicted offenders have done. Trump highlights how Kerik "courageously led the New York Police Department’s heroic response to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001," and how after receiving a 4-year sentence for tax fraud, became a "passionate advocate for criminal justice and prisoner reentry reform." Milken is similarly honored as "one of America's greatest financiers," and the statement characterizes his violations of U.S. securities laws as "innovative financing mechanisms."

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Trump also highlights a few lesser-known convicts in his Tuesday clemency spree, namely nonviolent drug offenders Tynice Nichole Hall and Crystal Munoz. They were pardoned with support from Alice Johnson, another drug offender who Trump similarly pardoned in 2018 with backing from Kim Kardashian-West. Former George W. Bush official David Safavian and author Angela Stanton, both advocates for criminal justice reform, were also pardoned.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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