Nearly 5% of the 238 criminals to whom Donald Trump granted clemency during his single term in office have already fallen afoul of the law again, a review by ABC News found. While it’s not an unprecedented rate of recidivism, it’s unusual that so many have (allegedly) crimed again so soon.
Among those who have had run-ins with Officer Friendly: Ron Paul’s grandson-in-law Jesse Benton, pardoned of the crime of filing false FEC reports; Benton had worked on campaigns for both Ron and Rand Paul as well as Mitch McConnell. In November, he was convicted of illegally funneling Russian money to the Trump campaign.
Trump’s last, hectic days in office included issuing clemency orders to family and political friends. Famously, Trump avoided the traditional vetting of clemency candidates done by the Department of Justice’s Office of Pardon Attorney and frequently issued pardons based on entreaties from celebrities, friends and athletes.