Before the end of his term: Trump granted 15 pardons

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Less than a month into his term, US President Donald Trump granted a pardon to 15 people tonight (Wednesday), two of whom are former members of Congress who were involved in the Russian intervention in the 2016 US election.

Trump held a mass rally in Georgia about three weeks ago // Photo: Reuters

The move comes amid reports that Trump is considering granting pardons to those close to him in the remaining weeks until the end of his term. It is estimated that the US president intends to pardon some of his associates, including his personal lawyer and some of his family members.

The two involved in the Russian intervention in the 2016 election are former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos, who admitted to giving false testimony in his interrogation toFBI And that he knew that the Russians had “dirt” on the then Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, and the Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwan, who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to his interrogators during his interrogation.

President of the United States

Members of Congress pardoned are Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California, both of whom were the first to publicly express support for Trump when he announced his intention to run for president of the United States. Collins was sentenced to two years and two months in prison On the U.S. Stock Exchange after illegally revealing to them about the failure of an experiment conducted by a small drug company.

Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after admitting to stealing election money he spent on spending time with friends and his daughter’s birthday party. White House spokeswoman Kylie McNanny said the pardons were granted to the two following “numerous requests made by members of Congress.”

Among the other people pardoned are four security guards from the Blackwater company, a U.S. government contractor, who were convicted for their part in a 2007 massacre in which 14 Iraqis were killed. The four were sentenced to at least 30 years in prison.

Former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos, last year // Photo: Reuters

The U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Adam Schiff, attacked the president for his pardons, saying Trump was using the power in his hands: To protect him, to provide shelter for those accused of killing civilians and to undermine the investigation that revealed major injustices. “

Last month, Trump pardoned Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser accused of lying toFBI During the investigation of the Russian intervention. In the early stages of the investigation, Flynn denied that he had contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States, but later admitted that he had contact with him a few weeks before Trump took office.

Later, Flynn replaced his defense team and asked to withdraw his confession. He claimed that his rights had been violated by the prosecution, which he said had deceived him as part of the plea bargain.

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