Trump is reportedly considering a pardon for the Trump Organization's chief financial officer
Over the last six weeks, so many people have been calling and emailing the West Wing seeking pardons that White House staffers have had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of the requests, CNN reports.
"It's turned crazy," one person familiar with the matter said. "There's a lot of activity." The queries have been coming in from business associates close to Trump as well as high-profile criminals, CNN reports, and when people can't reach the president, they contact his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, or White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. After Trump goes over their case summaries, he often asks his friends for their opinions on whether a person deserves a pardon.
As of now, Trump is contemplating pardons for more than two dozen people within his circle, CNN reports. One person he is considering for clemency is Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. Weisselberg has been investigated for his involvement in arranging hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who said she had an affair with Trump.
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Trump aides told CNN that the president is spiraling and devolving further into denial about the election, which he lost. Trump has told aides he won't leave the White House on Inauguration Day, but is then talked out of it. "He's throwing a f---ing temper tantrum," one adviser told CNN. "He's going to leave. He's just lashing out."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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