Fraudster freed from prison by Trump faces prosecution...

[Tennesseer]

The Washington Post article.  May be behind a paywall for some.

Fraudster freed from prison by Trump faces prosecution under Biden
Philip Esformes received clemency from Trump in the final weeks of his presidency after well-connected supporters pushed for his release.

Philip Esformes beat the system. Or so it seemed.

Less than five years into a 20-year sentence for his role in a massive fraud scheme — bankrolling a highflying Miami Beach lifestyle of luxury cars, designer clothing and high-priced escorts — Esformes walked out of federal prison thanks to Donald Trump, who granted him clemency in the waning days of his presidency.

But Esformes’s reprieve is now in peril, thrust to the center of an extraordinary legal and political collision between two administrations pushing the bounds of executive authority. The Biden Justice Department is seeking to retry him — a move made possible because the jury that convicted him reached no verdict on six counts, including the most serious charge of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud. Because Trump’s clemency order was silent on those charges, prosecutors say they are able to take him back to court.

At stake is whether the government’s move to reprosecute the architect of one of the largest-ever health-care scams undermines Trump’s decision based on presidential powers laid out in the Constitution and historically considered the last word on a criminal conviction.

The highly unusual decision to retry a clemency recipient on hung charges has emerged as yet another flash point in the broader battle between the far right, which portrays the Justice Department as an arm of an out-of-control “deep state” opposed to anyone associated with Trump, and law-and-order proponents seeking to defend institutions of democracy against incursions by the former president and his allies. Experts say they know of no precedent for this dispute.

Rest of article here: Fraudster freed from prison by Trump faces prosecution under Biden

[busymom]

Lock him up!  Legally, of course.  

[Opti]

How does one make healthcare better by freeing the biggest known healthcare scammer?

[djAdvocate]

what possible justification was there for clemency?

typically presidents state their reasons.  

my guess: no reason given.  right?

[Tennesseer]

I was copy/pasting the rest of the article into a message and saw this in the lower part of the article:

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So it looks like non-subscribers to The Washington Post can read the entire article. It is lengthy but informative. So click on the link in the OP.

[happyhoix]

They need to regulate the clemency process. If I remember right (I read about this a while back) - normally there is a ‘clemency board’ who review the formal requests for clemency and make suggestions to the president on who he should grant clemency to, based on the merits of each case.

This was not set in stone, it was just the usual process, historically, which went out the window when Trump became president. He granted clemencies to buddies, business contacts, friends of business contacts - also, it’s been rumored, to people who gave Trump a big fat donation (going through Giuliani).

Trump was unprecedented in granting pardons. I’m glas they are re-evaluating this case (and I hope they look at other cases) to make the unprecedented step of reversing it. This asshole needs to be in jail.

Hopefully if nothing else, this motivates the congresspeople to set rules on the whole clemency process.

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Oct 17, 2023 13:17:10 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

They need to regulate the clemency process. If I remember right (I read about this a while back) - normally there is a ‘clemency board’ who review the formal requests for clemency and make suggestions to the president on who he should grant clemency to, based on the merits of each case.

This was not set in stone, it was just the usual process, historically, which went out the window when Trump became president. He granted clemencies to buddies, business contacts, friends of business contacts - also, it’s been rumored, to people who gave Trump a big fat donation (going through Giuliani).

Trump was unprecedented in granting pardons. I’m glas they are re-evaluating this case (and I hope they look at other cases) to make the unprecedented step of reversing it. This asshole needs to be in jail.

Hopefully if nothing else, this motivates the congresspeople to set rules on the whole clemency process.

You ARE referring to Trump, right?

[billisonboard]

Oct 17, 2023 13:17:10 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

They need to regulate the clemency process. If I remember right (I read about this a while back) - normally there is a ‘clemency board’ who review the formal requests for clemency and make suggestions to the president on who he should grant clemency to, based on the merits of each case.

This was not set in stone, it was just the usual process, historically, which went out the window when Trump became president. He granted clemencies to buddies, business contacts, friends of business contacts - also, it’s been rumored, to people who gave Trump a big fat donation (going through Giuliani).

Trump was unprecedented in granting pardons. I’m glas they are re-evaluating this case (and I hope they look at other cases) to make the unprecedented step of reversing it. This asshole needs to be in jail.

Hopefully if nothing else, this motivates the congresspeople to set rules on the whole clemency process.

It is a constitutional power of the Presidency and would require a constitutional amendment to set rules.

[billisonboard]

Oct 17, 2023 13:17:10 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

They need to regulate the clemency process. If I remember right (I read about this a while back) - normally there is a ‘clemency board’ who review the formal requests for clemency and make suggestions to the president on who he should grant clemency to, based on the merits of each case.

This was not set in stone, it was just the usual process, historically, which went out the window when Trump became president. He granted clemencies to buddies, business contacts, friends of business contacts - also, it’s been rumored, to people who gave Trump a big fat donation (going through Giuliani).

Trump was unprecedented in granting pardons. I’m glas they are re-evaluating this case (and I hope they look at other cases) to make the unprecedented step of reversing it. This asshole needs to be in jail.

Hopefully if nothing else, this motivates the congresspeople to set rules on the whole clemency process.

Trump granted 237 acts of clemency during his four years in the White House, including 143 pardons and 94 commutations. Only two other presidents since 1900 – George W. and George H.W. Bush – granted fewer acts of clemency than Trump.

His predecessor, Barack Obama, granted clemency 1,927 times over the course of eight years in office, the highest total of any president going back to Harry Truman. Obama’s total was skewed heavily toward commutations (1,715) instead of pardons (212).

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/01/22/trump-used-his-clemency-power-sparingly-despite-a-raft-of-late-pardons-and-commutations/

[laterbloomer]

I have mixed feelings about this. I think Trump misused the power of the pardon, but you guys have built it in as a Presidential power. Either you have it or you don't. If you are going to keep it, then you can't be overruling it just cause you don't like who it was used on. 

[djAdvocate]

Oct 17, 2023 14:53:39 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

I have mixed feelings about this. I think Trump misused the power of the pardon, but you guys have built it in as a Presidential power. Either you have it or you don't. If you are going to keep it, then you can't be overruling it just cause you don't like who it was used on. 

in this case it is not overruled.  i would describe it as "skirting".  but i don't think my view of it changes your sentiment one iota.

[laterbloomer]

Oct 17, 2023 15:46:03 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Oct 17, 2023 14:53:39 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

I have mixed feelings about this. I think Trump misused the power of the pardon, but you guys have built it in as a Presidential power. Either you have it or you don't. If you are going to keep it, then you can't be overruling it just cause you don't like who it was used on. 

in this case it is not overruled.  i would describe it as "skirting".  but i don't think my view of it changes your sentiment one iota.

Like I said, mixed emotions. I can be convinced.

[djAdvocate]

Oct 17, 2023 16:18:20 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Oct 17, 2023 15:46:03 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

in this case it is not overruled.  i would describe it as "skirting".  but i don't think my view of it changes your sentiment one iota.

Like I said, mixed emotions. I can be convinced.

there is a vetting process for pardons.  it looks like THIS\/


The petition shall be addressed to the President of the United States and shall be submitted to the Pardon Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530, except for petitions relating to military offenses. Petitions and other required forms may be obtained from the Pardon Attorney.

www.justice.gov/pardon

Pardon attorneys are not supposed to consider anyone who has not been released from prison for (5) years.  So, yeah, that guy should not have even been able to APPLY for a pardon, let alone have one granted.

[djAdvocate]

Trump circumvented this process more than any modern president.
no surprise to anyone here, i am sure.