Jeff Sessions defends Trump pardons of Joe Arpaio, Scooter Libby
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday defended President Donald Trump’s right to pardon former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Bush administration official I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Both of those pardons were issued by Trump and bypassed the involvement of the Justice Department and its pardon attorney, which historically reviews petitions for clemency and makes recommendations. Sessions made the comments at a Senate subcommittee hearing where Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, reminded him that as a Republican senator from Alabama, Sessions had once defended the role of the Justice Department’s pardon attorney. Sessions said he stood by that assessment. But he also said that there was no question that the president had the constitutional authority to issue pardons without the Justice Department’s involvement and that there was no requirement that a president seek the opinion of the pardon attorney. “It’s clearly within the power of the president to execute pardons without the pardon attorney,” Sessions said. He acknowledged under questioning that he could not recall any pardon during President Barack Obama’s administration that did not go through the Justice Department, but he complained about pardons from President Bill Clinton that he considered objectionable. “I would just say that pardons that President Clinton were made were stunning, shocking and unacceptable on the merits,” he said in a raised voice. That was likely a reference to the 2001 pardon of fugitive businessman Marc Rich, an act that later came under federal investigation. He defended Arpaio as a legitimate pardon candidate because of the former Arizona sheriff’s advanced age of 85 and misdemeanor contempt-of-court conviction. He also said Libby had “contributed greatly to America.” Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted in 2007 of lying to investigators and obstruction of justice following the 2003 leak of the covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, though no one was ever charged for the leak. At another point in the hearing, Sessions declined to answer whether he had recused himself from an ongoing Justice Department investigation into Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer. Sessions said he continued to honor his decision from last year to step aside from the investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, but he said it would be inappropriate beyond that to discuss particular matters he was recused from. “It is the policy of the Department of Justice that those who recuse themselves not state the details of it, or confirm the existence of an investigation or the scope or nature of that investigation,” Sessions said. He also said he supported his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel in the Russia investigation and who, like Sessions, has been under steady public attack from the president. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Pressure on Barack Obama to grant last-minute pardons, commutations
Under increasing pressure to free convicts as a last act, President Barack Obama is planning at least one more batch of pardons and commutations before leaving office in two weeks, but don’t expect many famous offenders to make the list. The list of bold names appealing to Obama for compassion in his final weeks includes accused leaker Chelsea Manning, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and supporters of Edward Snowden, to name a few. White House officials say Obama’s final commutations are expected to remain focused on the nonviolent drug offenders he’s tried to help during his second term. “The process that I put in place is not going to vary” at the end, Obama said in August. He said he’d make the calls “based on the merits, as opposed to political considerations.” In the past, presidents have made a splash with clemency on their way out. Former President Bill Clinton ignited a major controversy with a last-minute pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich, the ex-husband of a major Democratic fundraiser. But Obama has viewed clemency as a tool to promote policy goals, not to “clean out the barn” on his way out, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss internal White House deliberations. Presidents have two clemency options: commutations, which reduce sentences being served but don’t erase convictions, and pardons, which generally restore civil rights, such as voting, often after a sentence has been served. Earlier in his presidency, Obama was unsatisfied with the cases he was receiving, officials said, and so in a 2014 initiative the Justice Department created specific criteria focusing on nonviolent individuals such as drug offenders who have served 10 years and, if convicted under today’s more lenient sentencing guidelines, would have received shorter sentences. Obama has granted 1,176 commutations and 148 pardons – fewer pardons than some presidents, but more commutations than any other, the White House said. His goal in taking on the commutations project was to spur action in Congress on a criminal justice overhaul. That seemed initially promising, but the momentum petered out. “It’s politically risky. You commute somebody and they commit a crime, and the politics of it are tough,” Obama has said. Some Obama commutation recipients have had firearms violations related to their drug crimes. A few were unrelated to Obama’s criminal justice push but received clemency as part of diplomatic deals with Iran and Cuba. The more recent batches have included some that met the spirit, but not the precise letter of the criteria, such as people who have not served a full 10 years. Mary Price of the advocacy group Families against Mandatory Minimums said Obama’s commutations had increased awareness about decades-long sentences for drug crimes. “I think that that’s very positive,” Price said, though she added she would have liked even more. But Obama has also been criticized for being too lenient, including by President-elect Donald Trump, who has accused the president of putting “bad dudes” on the street and warned Americans, “Sleep tight, folks.” Steve Cook, president of the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, faulted Obama for feeding the perception that federal prisons are “full of low-level, nonviolent offenders.” He said Obama was eroding prison’s deterrent effect by granting clemency to people with multiple felony convictions and firearms charges. “When you grant somebody like that clemency, you’re sending a message to the entire drug trafficking world,” Cook said. There will be a backlog of applicants when Obama leaves office, officials said, just as a backlog awaited Obama. But most whose cases won’t be resolved are people convicted of serious crimes like murder. Rather than expend limited resources issuing formal denials, the administration focused on approving those eligible under Obama’s guidelines. A look at the higher-profile cases vying for last-minute clemency: SNOWDEN The former National Security Agency contractor took secret documents and leaked them, revealing massive post-9/11 domestic surveillance programs in the U.S. government. He fled to Hong Kong, then Russia, to avoid prosecution, and a recent congressional report said Snowden remains in contact with Russian intelligence services. Snowden hasn’t formally petitioned for a pardon, the Justice Department said, but his supporters have been seeking one. Obama takes a dim view of Snowden. He told the German newspaper Der Spiegel last month he was disinclined to consider a pardon request until Snowden returns to the U.S. to face charges. His attorney, Ben Wizner, said the focus was on persuading Obama for a pardon through a global grassroots campaign rather than making legal arguments to the Justice Department. — BLAGOJEVICH The former Illinois governor has petitioned Obama for a commutation of his 14-year sentence, being served at a prison in Colorado. But it’s unlikely that Obama would grant it, particularly given Blagojevich’s involvement in an effort to trade an appointment to Obama’s former Senate seat for campaign cash. — MANNING The ACLU and LGBT groups have lobbied Obama to commute Manning’s sentence. The transgender soldier leaked classified government and military documents to WikiLeaks, and has since tried to commit suicide at least twice. Manning is serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. – BERGDAHL The U.S. Army sergeant could garner some sympathy from Obama, given that an Army Sanity Board Evaluation concluded that Bergdahl suffered from schizotypal personality disorder when he left his post in Afghanistan in 2009. Obama hasn’t commented in detail on Bergdahl, who has said he left his post to alert higher-ups to problems with his unit and faces desertion and misbehavior charges. Bergdahl was captured and held by the Taliban and its allies for five years. Two soldiers who went searching were seriously wounded. Obama exchanged Bergdahl in 2014 for five Taliban prisoners. Because of his military involvement, both the Justice Department and Defense Department must evaluate Bergdahl’s pardon request. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Imprisoned former Gov. Don Siegelman: Obama is ‘last hope’ for pardon
Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman could be released from prison as early as February, but is still hoping for a pardon from outgoing President Barack Obama. In a Thanksgiving message to supporters, Siegelman thanked people who supported him during his incarceration in a federal prison and discussed his hopes for being home soon. The former governor wrote in the Thanksgiving message that his earliest possible release date is Feb. 8. He said he also hopes a presidential pardon will clear his name before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. “We are just a few steps from the prison cell door, February 8th, but there is another deadline looming. D.J.T’s Inauguration day in DC. President Obama’s last day is our last hope. He is only person who can, with his signature, right the wrong that I, and so many of us, have been seeking,” Siegelman wrote. The 70-year-old ex-governor is serving a 61/2 year sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice in a federal prison in Louisiana. Siegelman for decades was a dominant figure in Alabama politics, holding the offices of secretary of state, attorney general, lieutenant governor and governor. He served as Alabama’s governor from 1999 to 2003. He was the last Democrat to hold the position in the deeply red state. A federal jury in 2006 convicted Siegelman on charges that he sold a seat on a state regulatory board to HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy in exchange for $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s signature political issue, his 1999 campaign to establish a state lottery. He was convicted on a separate obstruction of justice charge that he tried to hide money he received from a lobbyist. Appellate courts have upheld the convictions. Siegelman supporters have contended the case was politically motivated and the appointment no different than presidential campaign donors getting an ambassadorship. A bipartisan group of more than 100 former state attorneys general in April sent a letter to the White House urging the pardon, arguing it was questionable if the evidence in the case supported a conviction. There was no direct evidence of the two men conversing about an agreement to swap the donation for the appointment. Prosecutors at trial relied on what the two men told their subordinates. An aide, for example, testified Siegelman told a HealthSouth political consultant in 1999 that they needed to contribute $500,000 to his lottery campaign to make amends for Scrushy’s support of Republican Fob James in the governor’s race the year before. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Wikileaks reveals Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman inquired about Don Siegelman pardon
A new round of WikiLeaks documents released Tuesday reveal Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta reached out to White House officials advocating for the release of imprisoned former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman on multiple occasions. The Democratic Governor of Alabama from 1999 until 2003, Siegelman was convicted by a federal jury for the bribery of federal funds in 2006 on allegations that he sold a seat on a hospital regulatory board to former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in exchange for $500,000 in donations to his unsuccessful 1999 campaign to get Alabama voters to approve a state lottery. He was also convicted of obstruction of justice. However, advocates for Siegelman believe he was part of a political hit-job concocted by the Bush White House and Karl Rove. According to the series of emails released last month, Podesta first heard about Siegelman in a July 2014 email from professor Robin Metz of Knox College, Podesta’s alma mater. “This whole affair, thanks to Rove and the Bush thugs, is an outrage, a travesty, and a dangerous miscarriage of justice,” Metz wrote. It’s unclear of whether or not Podesta took any action on behalf of Siegelman at the time, but a June 2015 message from Jack Knox, whom, according to the email, Podesta had met while running the promenade along the East River in New York City — prompted him to act. “It would be timely to issue a pardon before the accumulation of evidence of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct explodes under the Obama administration,” wrote Knox. “The grotesque railroading of a Progressive and good man who Rove could not legitimately defeat at the polls is clearly a scandalous black mark in the history of American justice. Better to rectify it before it’s too late.” Podesta then forwarded the email to White House Counsel under President Barack Obama, Neil Eggleston. “This is the random shit that happens to me running in NYC,”Podesta said in the correspondence. “You looking at the Siegelman case.” Then, in January 2016, Podesta received another email from Knox informing him the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from “America #1 political prisoner” Siegelman, making a presidential pardon his last hope to reduce his sentence. Podesta again forwarded the email along to Eggleston, writing, “Putting back on your screen.” Podesta efforts may have been in vain, as Siegelman, now 70, has yet to be pardoned. He has been serving his 6½ year sentence at a Louisiana prison camp since his conviction, and is scheduled to be released in August 2017.
Don Siegelman to be released from prison one year from today
Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman is scheduled to be released from prison one year from today, August 8, 2017. Alabama News Network reported Monday Siegelman is “is keeping his spirits up” as his family and other supporters still hope the former governor could be released earlier via a presidential pardon. In April, more than 100 former state attorneys general from across the country sent a request to President Barack Obama asking him to pardon Siegelman, who’s serving a 6½ year prison sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice. In 2006, a federal jury convicted Siegelman of federal funds bribery on allegations that he sold a seat on a hospital regulatory board to former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in exchange for $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s unsuccessful 1999 campaign to get Alabama voters to approve a state lottery. Siegelman was also convicted of obstruction of justice. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Siegelman, making a presidential pardon his last hope to reduce his sentence. Siegelman, now 70, has been serving his sentence at a Louisiana prison camp since his conviction.
Former state attorneys generals request pardon for former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman
More than 100 former state attorneys general from across the country want the President Barack Obama to pardon former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, who’s serving a 6 ½ year prison sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice. According to the Associated Press, the pardon request was sent to the White House on Wednesday. In 2006, a federal jury convicted Siegelman of federal funds bribery on allegations that he sold a seat on a hospital regulatory board to former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in exchange for $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s unsuccessful 1999 campaign to get Alabama voters to approve a state lottery. Siegelman was also convicted of obstruction of justice. In January the U.S. Supreme Court denied to hear an appeal from Siegelman, making a presidential pardon his last hope to reduce his sentence. Siegelman, now 70, has been serving his sentence at a Louisiana prison camp since his conviction, and is scheduled to be released in 2017.
