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To: U.S. Congress
Trump’s shameful pardon spree: Congress must investigate
Donald Trump’s abuse of his presidential pardon power to reward his allies for their loyalty is an utter perversion of its original purpose. Exempting his friends and associates from any wrongdoing is one of the last, desperate acts of a president who considers himself above the law.
Congress must conduct a full investigation into whether or not these pardons were granted in exchange for helping to hide Trump’s own wrongdoing -- as well as pass the Protecting Our Democracy Act to institute safeguards against self-serving abuses of the presidential pardon power.
Why is this important?
As one of his final acts as president, Donald Trump has once again gravely abused the power of his office for personal gain.
In recent days, he has issued pardons for a number of individuals associated with his campaign and administration -- including Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, and Roger Stone, effectively undoing the biggest convictions won by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
While the wrongdoing they were tried and convicted for varies, they all have something in common: none of them ever broke loyalty with Trump, or offered potentially implicating testimony against him.
That’s right -- Trump is openly abusing his power to reward those who put loyalty to him above the laws of our nation and the integrity of our democracy.
And while it’s unlikely that this will be Trump’s last abuse of power -- one thing he cannot do is rewrite history or repair the reputation of his presidency after the long line of criminal convictions springing out of it.
Congress must fully investigate this shameful act, and pass legislation to prevent this from happening in the future -- if you agree, please add your name today.