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BlueWaveNeverEnd

(13,034 posts)
Sat Jan 17, 2026, 09:26 AM 17 hrs ago

The Wall Street Journal Finds That $1 Million Is the Going Rate for Crooks to Obtain Fast-Track Pardons From Trump

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-wall-street-journal-finds-that

The Wall Street Journal recently published an exposé on the going price for a Trump pardon:

As a string ensemble played in the background, Donald Trump Jr. walked up with lobbyist Ches McDowell to chat with the president. Trump Jr. at one point pulled McDowell forward to shake the president’s hand, according to a livestream broadcast. After they went inside, McDowell took the president aside to discuss a pressing issue, according to people familiar with the matter: One of his clients was seeking a pardon.

The client was Changpeng Zhao, founder of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance. That afternoon, the president agreed to sign Zhao’s pardon, the people said.

Zhao was one of the beneficiaries of a new, informal path to presidential pardons that has become a feature of Trump’s second term, which allows some clemency applicants with deep pockets or politically connected lobbyists to circumvent the traditional pardon process.

The new approach—driven in part by Trump’s own experience as a criminal defendant, people close to him say—has spawned a pardon-shopping industry where lobbyists say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal, according to people familiar with the offers. …
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The Wall Street Journal Finds That $1 Million Is the Going Rate for Crooks to Obtain Fast-Track Pardons From Trump (Original Post) BlueWaveNeverEnd 17 hrs ago OP
"...a new, informal path to presidential pardons..." tonkatoy8888 16 hrs ago #1
How many voters moondust 15 hrs ago #2

tonkatoy8888

(176 posts)
1. "...a new, informal path to presidential pardons..."
Sat Jan 17, 2026, 09:56 AM
16 hrs ago

Holy fuck, is that what we call bribery now?

We've reached the medieval pope selling indulgences portion of the program.

And ICE shooting people in the face is a new, informal path to jurisprudence.

moondust

(21,231 posts)
2. How many voters
Sat Jan 17, 2026, 11:40 AM
15 hrs ago

endorsed, donated to, and voted for the convicted felon precisely because they knew how utterly corrupt he is and knew he would have pardons for sale? Didn't he just sell a second pardon to somebody?

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