Donald Trump says that one of his first acts if he becomes president again will be to pardon the insurrectionists who carried out the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. He referred to the insurrectionists as “hostages” in a post on Truth Social.
Who are these hostages Trump refers to?
There’s Daniel Rodriguez, who used an electroshock weapon that nearly killed police officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain jury. There’s also Steven Cappuccio, who pinned police officer Daniel Hodges inside a metal door frame, tore away Hodges’ baton and gas mask while screaming “How do you like me now, f—er!”
There is little reason to belief much of what Trump says, given his penchant as a pathological liar. But when he says he’ll do something completely dishonorable, amoral, and venal, we should believe him because this is his motivation for everything he does.
When Trump was president, he issued pardons to convicted mass murderers — that’s right, he pardoned convicted mass murders. He also pardoned other murderers and accused murders, Russian stooges, and other scofflaws and ne’er-do wells, including pals and extended family members, including Charles Kushner, the father of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Here is a partial list of those pardoned by President Donald Trump:
. . . Click the name in the box and read more.
Joe Arpaio, Arizona sheriff, equal parts fascist, racist, and conspiracy peddler, pardoned by President Donald Trump for a criminal contempt conviction,
Steve Bannon is Donald Trump’s brain — a human nightmare, a slithering, talking, hate-spewing evil spirit that haunts us whether we are awake or asleep, a monstrous character whose pure odiousness makes Donald Trump a worse person. Steve Bannon made Donald Trump a worse person. Let this be Bannon’s epitaph.
Conrad Black, pardoned by President Donald Trump, his friend, biographer, and sycophant on a fraud conviction after he had served a prison sentence and been deported,
Elliott Broidy, pleaded guilty in late 2009 to bribing New York State officials with $1 million worth of illegal gifts, became a fundraiser for Donald Trump during 2016 presidential campaign, and later resigned as deputy finance chair of the RNC after it was reported that he paid $1.6 million to a former Playboy model in exchange for her silence about their affair, her pregnancy, and her abortion,
Chris Collins, one of first congressmen to endorse 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump, convicted for insider trading, and pardoned by then-President Donald Trump,
Dinesh D’Souza, right-wing conspiracy theory peddler and felon who once dated Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham and later pardoned by President Donald Trump for making an illegal campaign contribution, not for dating Coulter and Ingraham,
Paul Erickson, pardoned by President Donald Trump for conviction on federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering,
Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump pardoned his former national security adviser-turned-seditionist-turned traitor,
Eddie Gallagher, right-wing cause celebre pardoned by President Donald Trump after being found guilty of posing for a photo with the corpse of a murdered ISIS prisoner,
George Gilmore, former chairman of the Ocean County (NJ) Republican Party who was pardoned by President Donald Trump after being sentenced to a year in prison for failing to file payroll taxes for employees and making a false statement on a loan application,
Matt Golsteyn, pardoned by President Donald Trump before he faced a murder trial for killing an unarmed suspected Taliban fighter,
Duncan Hunter, one of first congressmen to endorse Trump’s 2016 presidential candidate and pleaded guilty to conspiring with his wife to illegally spend campaign funds on personal expenses, pardoned by President Donald Trump,
Bernard Kerik, former New York City police commissioner who was pardoned by President Donald Trump on charges of fraud, who then joined the president’s fraudulent campaign to discredit the election after the presidential election,
Ken Kurson, good friend of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and pardoned by President Trump after the former newspaper publisher was charged with stalking and harassment,
Charles Kushner, President Donald Trump pardoned his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, who was convicted of tax evasion, witness tampering, and making illegal campaign donations,
Clint Lorance, convicted war criminal who was pardoned by President Donald Trump for ordering his troops to fire on unarmed Afghani citizens in 2012,
Paul Manafort, Trump pardoned his former campaign manager who was serving a seven-year prison term for committing a number of federal crimes in connection to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling during the 2016 Presidential Election,
George Papadopoulos, President Donald Trump pardoned this former adviser for lying to the FBI in its investigation of Russian meddling during the 2016 Presidential Election,
Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard, President Donald Trump pardoned these mass murderers who were convicted by a U.S. jury of firing machine guns and throwing grenades into a crowd of unarmed Iraq citizens, killing 14 and injuring 17,
Steve Stockman, President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of former Republican congressman Steve Stockman, who was convicted of fraud and conspiracy to swindle conservative foundations out of $775,000,
Roger Stone, President Donald Trump pardoned this longtime GOP adviser who was found guilty of a series of crimes related to a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election,
Alex van der Zwaan, Dutch attorney was sentenced to federal prison after admitting to lying to federal agents in the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling during the 2016 Presidential Election,
