Ivanka’s role in Donald Trump’s pardons a ploy to run for office: report

Ivanka Trump intensively lobbied the former President over his list of pardons as part of her ambitious plans for the future, a report claims.

Ivanka Trump intensively lobbied the former President over his list of pardons and commutations as part of a plan to run for office in the future, a bombshell report reveals.

The report claims Ivanka lobbied her father Donald Trump over some 140 commutations and pardons, and worked closely with a criminal justice reform organisation beloved by Kim Kardashian.

Ivanka plans to use the platform of criminal justice reform, popular in the US, to build herself a political future, the report from Axios claims, citing multiple sources.

“It would not be surprising if it’s among the causes she champions in her next chapter,” the source said.

Mr Trump’s last-minute list of pardons and commutations made headlines, as it was released just 12 hours before the former President left office. He pardoned 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of 70 others.

The list angered some supporters of Mr Trump who’d long campaigned for the pardoning of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. The pair were notably absent from the Presidential pardons.

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Ivanka Trump heavily lobbied her father over the list of 140 pardons and commutations, a report claims. Picture: Mandel Ngan / AFP

Among those included were a mix of rappers, white collar criminals, as well as the President’s former campaign adviser Steve Bannon. Mr Trump also pardoned Elliott Broidy, a former fundraiser for the Republican party, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws in 2020.

Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner “intensively lobbied” Mr Trump in the days leading up to the announcement, multiple sources claimed.

The former senior White House adviser attended numerous meetings at the White House during the process and took calls from empty offices.

Ivanka was working with non-government organisations including #Cut50 — an advocacy group working to cut incarceration in the US. The organisation is also known because its founder, Jessica Jackson, is mentoring Kim Kardashian in her quest to become a lawyer.

Ms Jackson said she’s worked with Ivanka on numerous commutations and non-political pardons.

She said she became the White House’s go-to person on the issue.

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The people Ivanka is said to have personally lobbied for include:

• Kyle Kimoto, a father of six who was convicted of stealing US $43 million in a telemarketing scam.
• Michael Harris, the founder of Death Row Records, who had his sentence for attempted murder and cocaine trafficking commuted. Reports claim rapper Snoop Dogg had been campaigning for his release.
• Kenneth Charles Fragoso, a Navy veteran who’d already served 30 years of a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offence.
• Chalana McFarland, who was convicted of money laundering, bank and wire fraud and other financial crimes, and had served 15 years of her life sentence. Ms McFarland was offered a pre-trial plea bargain of seven years in prison, which she didn’t accept.
• April Coots, who’d served half of her 20-year sentence for a nonviolent drug offence, and was described as an exemplary inmate.

It follows reports Ivanka is considering a run for Florida governor against Republican senator Marco Rubio. Other reports claim Ivanka could run for Congress in New Jersey — the Trump family also own property in the state.

The senior aide to the former President was often considered a moderating influence on her father — but following the election the President’s daughter took on a more aggressive tone, and sparred with her critics online.

In November, the 39-year-old clashed with CNN anchor Jake Tapper after she claimed the US had experienced a fall in emissions.

She hit out at a state investigation into 2017 inauguration funds, calling her own deposition a “politically motivated demonstration of vindictiveness and waste of taxpayer dollars”.

She also referred to New York authorities’ investigation into Mr Trump’s taxes a “fishing expedition” and claimed Mr Trump is being pursued as part of a “vendetta”.