Some of the president’s allies were expected to be included, and although there was speculation that Trump may pardon his family members, the president did not grant clemency to any of the Trump family.
Among those hoping to be pardoned were some rioters who stormed the Capitol building earlier in January, though they were not pardoned by the president.
Trump’s use of clemency has been controversial throughout his presidency. The news of the president using his final day as commander in chief to potentially pardon more than 100 people has been criticized, with Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal saying: “Trump will issue last-second pardons [today].
“They’ll be another abuse of power by a corrupt, failed, one-term, twice-impeached president who has routinely undermined the rule of law, the constitution, and our democracy.”
According to the Department of Justice, only federal criminal convictions can be pardoned by the president, and the president cannot pardon a state criminal offense.
Only the president has the power to grant pardons, and the president does not have to give a reason for pardoning someone.
Pardons are generally granted to those who have been convicted of a federal crime, but pardons can also cover conduct that has not yet resulted in legal proceedings. However, pardons cannot cover future conduct.
A pardon does not imply that the person is innocent of the crime that they are being pardoned for, but can exempt them from the crime and restore any rights that were rescinded for a federal conviction.
Below is a full list of people pardoned by Trump, from August 2017, when he pardoned Joseph M. Arpaio for contempt of court, until January 20, 2021, when he pardoned 73 people.
List of People Pardoned by President Donald Trump
Joseph M. Arpaio—Contempt of CourtKristian Mark Saucier—Unauthorized retention of defense informationI. Lewis Libby, aka Scooter Libby, aka Irve Lewis “Scooter” Libby—Obstruction of justice; false statements; perjury (two counts)John Arthur Johnson, aka Jack Johnson—Violation of the White Slave Traffic ActDinesh D’Souza—Campaign contribution fraudDwight Lincoln Hammond—Use of fire to damage and destroy property of the United StatesSteven Dwight Hammond—Use of fire to damage and destroy property of the United States (two counts)Michael Chase Behenna—Unpremeditated murder; assaultPatrick James Nolan—Conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeeringConrad Moffat Black—Mail fraud; attempted obstruction of justiceMichael Anthony Tedesco—Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute in excess of 5 kilograms of cocaine and quantities of marijuanaRoy Wayne McKeever—Used telephone in distributing marijuanaJohn Richard Bubala—Conversion of government propertyChalmer Lee Williams—Conspiracy to steal firearms and other goods as part of an interstate shipment; theft from shipment in interstate commerce; theft of firearms shipped in interstate commerceRodney M. Takumi—Participating in an illegal gambling businessZay Jeffries—Conspiracy to violate the Sherman ActMathew Golsteyn—Premeditated murder (charged, not tried or convicted)Clint A. Lorance—Attempted murder; murder (two specifications); wrongfully communicating a threat (two specifications); reckless endangerment; solicitating a false statement; obstructing justiceAngela Ronae Stanton—Conspiracy to transport in interstate commerce a stolen motor vehicle and tampering with a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)Ariel Manuel Friedler—Conspiracy to access a protected computer without authorizationDavid Hossein Safavian—Obstruction; false statement (three counts)Michael Robert Milken—Conspiracy; securities fraud; mail fraud; tax fraud; filing false reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); assisting a brokerage firm in violating its net capital requirementsPaul Harvey Pogue—Making and subscribing a false tax return
Bernard Bailey Kerik—Obstructing the administration of the Internal Revenue Laws; aiding in the preparation of a false income tax return; making false statements on a loan application; making false statements (five counts)Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. —Misprision of a felonySusan B. Anthony—Illegal votingJon Donyae Ponder—Bank robbery; interference with commerce by armed robbery (six counts)Alice Marie Johnson—Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; attempted possession of 12 kilos of cocaine with intent to distribute; attempted possession of 9 kilos of cocaine; attempted possession of 75 kilos of cocaine; attempted possession of 10 kilos of cocaine; conspiracy to commit money laundering; money laundering ($1. 5 million); structuring monetary transactionsMichael T. Flynn—Making false statements to Federal investigatorsPhillip Kay Lyman—Conspiracy to operate off-road vehicles on public land closed to off-road vehicles; operation of off-road vehicle on public lands closed to off-road vehiclesOtis Gordon—Sell, distribute, or dispense a controlled substanceWeldon Hal Angelos—Possession with intent to distribute marijuana (five counts); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime (three counts); possession of a stolen firearm (two counts); possession of a firearm with a removed serial number; use of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm (two counts); money laundering (three counts)Alex Van Der Zwaan—False statementsGeorge Papadopoulos—False statementsChristopher Carl Collins—Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; false statementsDuncan D. Hunter—Conspiracy to commit offensesAlfonso Antonio Costa—Health care fraudPaul Alvin Slough—Voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (13 counts); attempt to commit voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (17 counts); using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and aiding and abetting and causing an act to be doneNicholas Abram Slatten—Murder in the first degreeEvan Shawn Liberty—Voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (eight counts); attempt to commit voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (12 counts); using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and aiding and abetting and causing an act to be doneDustin Laurent Heard—Voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (six counts); attempt to commit voluntary manslaughter, aiding and abetting and causing an act to be done (11 counts); using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and aiding and abetting and causing an act to be doneJose Alonso Compean—Assault with a dangerous weapon, and aiding and abetting; assault with serious bodily injury, and aiding and abetting; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; deprivation of rights under color of lawAlfred Lee Crum—Illegally operating a still; unlawful possession of a still; operating without bondIgnacio Ramos—Assault with a dangerous weapon and aiding and abetting; assault with serious bodily injury and aiding and abetting; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; deprivation of rights under color of lawRoger Joseph Stone Jr. —Obstruction of proceeding; false statements (five counts); witness tamperingPaul J. Manafort—Subscribing to false United States individual income tax returns for 2010-2014 tax years (five counts); failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts for calendar years 2011-2014; bank fraud/Lender B/$3. 4 million loan; bank fraud/Lender C/$1 million loan and Conspiracy against the United States; conspiracy to obstruct justice (witness tampering)Margaret E. Hunter—Conspiracy to commit offensesCharles Kushner—Fraud and false statements (16 counts); retaliating against witness, victim; statements or entries generallyWilliam Plemons—Structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements (four counts), Willfully attempting to evade personal income tax (three counts), and Wire fraudTopeka Kimberly Sam—Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloridePeter Y. Atkinson—Mail fraud (three counts)John A. Boultbee—Mail fraudAndrew Barron Worden—Wire fraudMary Ballard McCarty—Conspiracy to commit honest services fraudJames J. Kassouf—Making a false tax returnJohn Frederick Tate—Conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States; causing false records; causing false campaign contribution reports; false statements scheme
Jesse R. Benton—Conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States; causing false records; causing false campaign contribution reports; false statements schemeChristopher Michael Wade—Sealed offenses of convictionJoseph Martin Stephens—Probation revocationChristopher II X—Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, Violation (4)Cesar Agusto Lozada—Conspiracy to distribute marijuanaRickey Ivan Kanter—Mail fraudStephanie Christine Mohr—Deprivation of rights under color of lawRobert Edward Coughlin II—Conflict of interestMark Siljander—Obstruction of justice; violation of Foreign Agents Registration ActJames Harutun Batmasian—Willful failure to pay over taxGary Mark Brugman—Deprivation of rights under color of lawJoseph Occhipinti—Conspiracy to violate civil rights; deprivation of rights under color of law (10 misdemeanor counts); false statements (six counts)Rebekah Kay Charleston—Conspiracy to commit tax evasionRussell Paul Plaisance—Conspiracy to unlawfully import cocaine into the U. S. Todd Boulanger—Pled guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraudAbel Holtz—Pled guilty to impeding a grand jury investigationRepresentative Rick Renzi—Convicted of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering, and racketeeringKenneth Kurson—Charged with cyberstalkingCasey Urlacher—Charged with conspiracy to engage in illegal gamblingCarl Andrews Boggs—Pled guilty to two counts of conspiracyJames E. Johnson, Jr. —Pled guilty to charges related to migratory birdsTommaso Buti—Charged with financial fraudGlen Moss—Pled guilty to unspecified chargesAnthony Levandowski—Pled guilty to a single criminal count arising from civil litigationAviem Sella—Indicted for espionageMichael Liberty—Convicted for campaign finance violations and later indicted for related offensesGreg Reyes—Convicted of securities fraudJeffrey Alan Conway—No reason givenBenedict Olberding—Convicted of bank fraudSyrita Steib-Martin—Convicted of the use of fire to commit a felonyEric Wesley Patton—Convicted of making a false statement on a mortgage applicationRobert William Cawthon—Convicted of making a false statement on a bank loan applicationHal Knudson Mergler—Convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)Gary Evan Hendler—Convicted of conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substancesJohn Harold Wall—Convicted of aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute methamphetamineSteven Samuel Grantham—Convicted for stealing a vehicleClarence Olin Freeman—Convicted for operating an illegal whiskey stillFred Keith Alford—Convicted for a firearm violationAlex Adjmi—Convicted of a financial crimeElliott Broidy—Convicted of conspiracy to serve as an unregistered agent of a foreign principalStephen K. Bannon—Charges related to fraud stemming from his involvement in a political projectDouglas Jemal—Convicted of fraudDr. Scott Harkonen—Convicted of fraudJohnny D. Phillips, Jr. —Convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraudDr. Mahmoud Reza Banki—Charges for making false statementsJohn Nystrom—Failed to alert the proper authorities when he learned that a subcontractor was receiving double payments for work performedGregory Jorgensen, Deborah Jorgensen, Martin Jorgensen(posthumous pardon for Martin Jorgensen)—Convicted for selling misbranded beefJessica Frease—Convicted for converting stolen checks and negotiating them through the bank where she worked as a tellerRobert Cannon “Robin” Hayes—Serving a 1-year term of probation for making a false statement in the course of a Federal investigationThomas Kenton “Ken” Ford—Pled guilty to making a material misstatement to Federal mining officialsScott Conor Crosby—Participated in a co-worker’s plan to commit a bank robberyLynn Barney—Possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon, after having previously been convicted for distributing a small amount of marijuanaJoshua J. Smith—Conspiracy to possess drugs with intent to distributeAmy Povah—A drug offenseDr. Frederick Nahas—Pled guilty to one count of obstructing justice in a health care investigationDavid Tamman—Doctored financial documentsDr. Faustino Bernadett—Failed to report a hospital kickback schemePaul Erickson—Charged with a minor financial crimeTodd Farha, Thaddeus Bereday, William Kale, Paul Behrens, Peter Clay—Criminally prosecuted for a state regulatory matter involving the reporting of expenditures to a state health agencyDavid Rowland—A violation of the Clean Air ActRandall “Duke” Cunningham (Conditional pardon)—Accepting bribes while he held public officeDwayne Michael Carter Jr. aka Lil Wayne—Pled guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felonStephen Odzer (Conditional pardon)—Pled guilty to conspiracy and bank fraudSteven Benjamin Floyd—Pled guilty to one count of bank robbery by extortionJoey Hancock—Convicted for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substanceDavid E. Miller—Pled guilty to one count of making a false statement to a bankJames Austin Hayes—Convicted of conspiracy to commit insider tradingDrew Brownstein—Convicted of insider tradingRobert Bowker—Pled guilty to a violation of the Lacey Act, which prohibits trafficking in wildlifeAmir Khan—Pled guilty to wire fraudPatrick Lee Swisher—Convicted of tax fraud and false statementsRobert Sherrill—Convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaineDr. Robert S. Corkern—Convicted of Federal program briberyDavid Lamar Clanton—Convicted of false statements and related chargesGeorge Gilmore—Convicted for failure to pay payroll taxes and false statementsDesiree Perez—Conspiracy to distribute narcoticsRobert “Bob” Zangrillo—Charged in connection with the Varsity Blues investigationHillel Nahmad—Convicted of a sports gambling offenseBrian McSwain—An unspecified drug crimeJohn Duncan Fordham—Convicted on one count of health care fraudWilliam “Ed” Henry—Aiding and abetting the theft of government property
Update 1/20/2021: This article has been updated to include the names of those pardoned by Trump on January 20, 2021.
