Talk:List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Crime and Criminal Biography Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Crime and Criminal Biography articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Crime and Criminal BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyCrime-related articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Donald Trump Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Donald Trump, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Donald Trump on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Donald TrumpWikipedia:WikiProject Donald TrumpTemplate:WikiProject Donald TrumpDonald Trump articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Law Low‑importance

	Law portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Law, an attempt at providing a comprehensive, standardised, pan-jurisdictional and up-to-date resource for the legal field and the subjects encompassed by it.LawWikipedia:WikiProject LawTemplate:WikiProject Lawlaw articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Lists Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Lists, an attempt to structure and organize all list pages on Wikipedia. If you wish to help, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.ListsWikipedia:WikiProject ListsTemplate:WikiProject ListsList articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Politics: American Low‑importance

	Politics portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of politics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoliticsWikipedia:WikiProject PoliticsTemplate:WikiProject Politicspolitics articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by American politics task force (assessed as Low-importance).

United States: Presidents Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject United States Presidents (assessed as Low-importance).

This article has been mentioned by a media organization:

Andy Borowitz (2020-08-18). "Susan B. Anthony Begs Trump Not to Pardon Her: "I Don't Want to Be on a Wikipedia Page with Roger Stone"". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-08-19.

Premature?[edit]

I came here when I noticed Arpiao on a fellow user's talk page and accessed the link to here from his article. I was surprised that this article exists. There seems to be only one pardon. While the pardon has been notable, I think it's too premature to create an article about "people pardoned" if there is only one. MonsterHunter32 (talk) 23:37, 2 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The article discusses a lot of information, in addition to the Arpaio pardon. Presumably, there will be more pardons (at some point). Or are you suggesting that the name of the article be changed from "people" (plural) to "person" (singular)? I am not sure what your objection is? Please clarify. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 05:32, 3 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

If it is only presumable then it should be moved to the draftspace. For all we know Trump could resign today. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 10:30, 3 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@MonsterHunter32, Joseph A. Spadaro, and Emir of Wikipedia: I initially redirected this to Joe Arpaio#Trump Presidential pardon but that was reverted. I still think this should be converted to a redirect and that that's the valid target, but we'd need to agree that it's the consensus. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 13:04, 3 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

My problem was that I felt it's too premature that this article was created because there's only one pardon. The first two paras of the article are general information about Presidential powers of pardon. The third's about an article of partial list of those given clemency by all Presidents as well as DoJ's list of Presidential clemency recipients. MonsterHunter32 (talk) 17:41, 3 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I think until someone else is granted clemency it should be the redirect that was suggested. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 14:20, 3 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Update: – I "reinstated" this "old" article by the title of "List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump". This "old" article had only one pardon, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Someone redirected it to the Sheriff Joe Arpaio page. At this point, Trump has issued several pardons. It is a notable topic. And a stand-alone article is appropriate. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:31, 3 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Succession box[edit]

I am thinking of adding the following Succession Box to this article. Any thoughts? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:48, 9 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Preceded by Barack Obama 2009–2017	List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the President of the United States Donald Trump 2017–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

November 2019 pardons[edit]

I believe that there were three. The article only lists two. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:55, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'm afraid you're mistaken: the Office of the Pardon Attorney mentions only two, Major Golsteyn and Lt. Lorance. I believe that the third one you mentioned, the action surrounding Eddie Gallagher, was a reversal of his demotion: an action wholly within the powers of the President that is neither a pardon nor a commutation. — Javert2113 (Siarad.|¤) 21:47, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Javert2113: Ah, thanks. Yes, I believe that you are correct. Thank you. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 22:43, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

February 2020 pardons[edit]

We now have Blagojevic and DeBartolo but we need to add Kerik. [1] I'd do it but I see there is a specific style for this table so I'd rather let someone do it who is familiar with the style. -- MelanieN (talk) 20:09, 18 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Office of the Pardon Attorney[edit]

I have used the same content in Office of the Pardon Attorney based on this Washington Post investigation.^[1] Oceanflynn (talk) 17:10, 22 February 2020 (UTC) [reply]

References

^ Reinhard, Beth; Gearan, Anne. "Most Trump clemency grants bypass Justice Dept. and go to well-connected offenders". Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2020.

"Rightfully" Chief Law Enforcement Officer[edit]

In response to criticism that he has bypassed the DOJ's Office of Pardon Attorney, Trump rightfully said that he is the "chief law enforcement officer of the country."

Isn't "rightfully" incorrect? According to https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/a/45928/22585 he is not, quoting the White House web-page on the Executive Branch:

The Attorney General is the head of the DOJ and chief law enforcement officer of the federal government."

--Danielklein (talk) 05:52, 23 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I've removed "rightfully". If the consensus of American law agrees the President is the chief law enforcement officer, the word "rightfully" can be put back. It's not for Wikipedia to say whether it's rightful or not. --Danielklein (talk) 04:42, 24 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

December 2020 pardons[edit]

Have all 15 individuals Trump pardoned in December 2020 been added? I don't see the Blackwater mercenaries listed. 173.88.246.138 (talk) 14:56, 23 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

January 2021 - Careful adding to tables![edit]

This article from The Independent may be useful although it does not include all the information contained in the table. Who has Trump pardoned so far? A full list (The Independent, Jan 18, 2021)Calmecac5 (talk) 19:04, 19 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

That January 18th article is already outdated, due to the "eleventh hour" flurry of pardons, but it might be helpful as a cite for those earlier table entries that might still need one.

And speaking of the two Wikitables in the article, novice editors should not attempt to add newly announced pardons or commutations, since the complex formatting markup required is easy to "break" (as exhibited by recent edits that had to be reverted). — DennisDallas (talk) 08:04, 20 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

A commutation in 2017[edit]

"Trump issued 89 commutations: none in 2017" then right below it is a commutation in 2017. Am I missing something? ESAD-Hooker (talk) 23:23, 20 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Connections[edit]

I have reverted the removal of the following content:

Of the pardons and commutations that Trump did grant, the vast majority were to persons to whom Trump had a personal or political connection, or persons for whom executive clemency served a political goal.^[1]^[2]

^ Robles, Frances (December 28, 2020). "Outside Trump's Inner Circle, Odds Are Long for Getting Clemency". New York Times.
^ Goldsmith, Jack; Gluck, Matt (December 29, 2020). "Trump's Circumvention of the Justice Department Clemency Process". www.lawfareblog.com. Lawfare. Retrieved 3 January 2021.

The stated justification for the removal was "blog is not a reliable source" and that "'vast majority' is unsupported by the other rs." The first rationale is thoughtless: The author here is legal scholar Jack Goldsmith of Harvard Law School, and the "blog" is Lawfare, which is a highly regarded, independently edited, expert-run publication. The second rationale is patently untrue: the NYT piece directly states that "Mr. Trump awarded the vast majority of his pardons... and commutations" to people who "skipped the line and got their petitions directly on the president’s desk because they had money or connections, or allies who did" (i.e., "an ad hoc White House process that favored applications benefiting or pushed by Mr. Trump’s allies, friends and family."). Neutrality^talk 15:03, 26 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:RSN #Lawfare Blog--Rusf10 (talk) 20:07, 26 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Just popping in to provide the permanent link to this RfC now that it's been archived: [2]. The result was overwhelmingly in favor of Lawfare being a reliable source. Generalrelative (talk) 05:46, 4 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal to move page to "Executive clemency granted by Donald Trump"[edit]

Are there any objections to moving the page to the proposed name? The page started out with this lead: This is a list of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump. It's already morphed into an article with plenty of text and a proper lead (that also contains two tables of names), so "List of" is misleading. Space4Time3Continuum2x (talk) 12:57, 22 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Agree, this page does not follow standard wiki practices regarding "List" pages and is more a general page about executive clemency under the Trump Administration. OgamD218 (talk) 06:20, 23 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal to move page to "List of people pardoned by Donald Trump"[edit]

The "executive clemency" name is both not WP:COMMONNAME (almost no news sources or common parlance say "executive clemency", it's always "pardon") and is not consistent with other pardon pages - while List of people granted executive clemency by Barack Obama does follow it, the similar pages for Clinton, Bush 43, and Bush 41 use the "pardon" nomenclature. So too does the page on pardons/executive clemency are. While "executive clemency" might technically be the correct general term (Article II Section 2 Clause 1's "Reprieves and Pardons" notwithstanding), the page (as well as Obama's) should be moved.

Are there any objections to this? Amyipdev (talk) 18:59, 17 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

[WaPo_Gearan_20200222-1] Reinhard, Beth; Gearan, Anne. "Most Trump clemency grants bypass Justice Dept. and go to well-connected offenders". Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2020.

[OutsideInner-2] Robles, Frances (December 28, 2020). "Outside Trump's Inner Circle, Odds Are Long for Getting Clemency". New York Times.

[Goldsmith-3] Goldsmith, Jack; Gluck, Matt (December 29, 2020). "Trump's Circumvention of the Justice Department Clemency Process". www.lawfareblog.com. Lawfare. Retrieved 3 January 2021.

[1]

[1]

[2]