Justice investigates ‘bribery’ scheme for White House pardons
The Justice Department investigates alleged bribery scheme involving campaign donations to secure a presidential pardon.
The US Justice Department is investigating an alleged bribery scheme involving campaign donations to secure a presidential pardon, a court filing showed on Wednesday AEDT.
The document, which discusses the legality of searching communications and electronic devices of individuals, including US attorneys, is highly redacted, with all identifying information blacked out. But it refers to a “secret lobbying scheme” directed at “senior White House officials” to gain a presidential “pardon or reprieve of sentence” for an unnamed individual.
The scheme, under investigation since at least August, appears to have involved lobbyists and lawyers, a well-heeled donor to political campaigns, and a man or woman who is or was in prison and is hoping for presidential intervention.
The filing indicates that the lobbyists and lawyers contacted White House officials requesting a presidential pardon or reprieve, citing the “past substantial campaign contributions” and “anticipated future substantial political contributions” from a donor.
It suggests that the donor is making the offer on behalf of the person seeking clemency.
The document does not indicate when the actions involved took place, and, in the sections not redacted, there is no reference to Donald Trump or his campaign.
But the filing was revealed amid speculation that, with six weeks left in the White House after losing the November 3 election, Mr Trump is preparing to grant executive clemency to more people, after pardoning his former national security adviser Michael Flynn last Wednesday.
Mr Trump tweeted: “Pardon investigation is Fake News!”
Mr Trump has granted pardons or sentence reductions to several political allies, including campaign consultant Roger Stone, controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and Republican activist Dinesh D’Souza.
The New York Times reported that Mr Trump has discussed granting pre-emptive pardons to his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, his three oldest children and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
There is also public discussion of Mr Trump issuing a pardon for himself, for any crimes he might be charged with related to his time in office — though the legality of that has never been tested.
“A self-pardon would be a fitting abuse to end Trump’s presidency. It would also be corrupt, illegitimate, and void,” tweeted Democrat congressman Adam Schiff.
Meanwhile, a US federal judge in San Francisco blocked rule changes ordered by Mr Trump making it harder for people to get skilled-worker visas. H1-B visas, are precious to Silicon Valley tech firms hungry for engineers and other highly trained talent. US District Court Judge Jeffrey White granted a motion to set aside two rules by the departments of Labour and Homeland Security that would have compelled companies to pay H1-B visa workers higher wages and trimmed job types that qualify for the visas.
The Trump administration had cited the COVID-19 pandemic and its toll on the economy as reasons for skipping required publicnotice and review processes, according to court documents.
AFP
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