Lame duck president Donald Trump, 29 days from leaving office, issued 20 pardons today including for two people convicted in the Mueller investigation into Trump’s obstruction of justice and his campaign’s cooperation with Russian government efforts to disrupt the 2016 election.
According to the New York Times, George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan both received Trump pardons. Both were convicted of making false statements to federal investigators and served short prison terms. Trump described Papadopoulos as a “coffee boy” on the campaign.
Three former Congressmen convicted of various charges–Duncan Hunter of California, Chris Collins of New York and Steve Stockman of Texas–received pardons. Collins and Hunter were the first two member of Congress to endorse Trump’s campaign.
Trump also pardoned four veterans who, while serving as private contractors in Iraq, murdered Iraqi civilians.