The Pardonin' Prez

No, Trumpanzee isn't crazy for tossing out pardons like they were rolls of toilet paper in Puerto Rico. He's creating an environment for when he has to protect himself by pardoning Manafort, Michael Cohen, Flynn, Papadopoulos, Carter Page, Gorka, Kushner, Ivanka, Roger Stone, Wilbur Ross... the whole swampy regime. Don't be surprised if he winds up pardoning everyone who ever appeared on The Apprentice and when he runs out of them, Million Dollar Listing, Dancing With The Stars, Chopped and Shahs Of Sunset. Yesterday he commuted Alice Johnson's life sentence, the woman Kim Kardashian had met with him about in the White House last week. Axios reported that White House counsel Don McGahn is skeptical of the merits of pardoning Johnson.

CNN reports that Señor T told the White House staff to get him paperwork for dozens of people he can pardon. Trump wants to pardons lots and lots of people and get a reputation as the "Pardoning Prez." John Kelly, who is still Chief of Staff thinks this is a bad idea.

Last week, the President pardoned conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza and told reporters he was considering pardoning Martha Stewart and commuting the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He raised eyebrows on Monday when he stated his belief that he had the "absolute right" to pardon himself, but said he wouldn't do so because he had "done nothing wrong."

In light of his recent pardoning spree, several of the President's outside friends and allies have begun advocating for people they believe should also be forgiven.

Though past presidents have typically waited until the end of their term to pardon controversial figures, Trump has pardoned five people during his 17 months in office. Most are unexpected or benefit political supporters. In addition to D'Souza, who pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws in 2014, he has granted forgiveness to former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier and the first black heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson, thus far.

Who Trump pardons has oftentimes come as a jolt to his own staff, and on some occasions, the person being pardoned.

"I have never met President Trump in my life," D'Souza told CNN Tuesday. "I have spoken to him once before on the telephone, but I have never met him. The time I talked to him about my pardon was only the second time I've spoken to him, ever."

When ABC News reported in April that the President was poised to pardon Libby, it was not just a surprise to his friends and family, but him as well, according to a source familiar with the pardon. Bill Jeffress, his primary trial lawyer, said he learned about the pardon from media reports.

Trump has not followed the typical procedure for granting pardons, often choosing instead to bypass the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney while wielding his constitutional power.

The office recently informed 180 petitioners that they would not be granted clemency at this time, a White House official confirmed to CNN, but the administration has said it will continue to review pardons and make decisions on a rolling basis. There are currently 2,108 petitions for pardons, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney.

The office had made clear in its guidelines that a pardon does not establish innocence.

"A presidential pardon is ordinarily a sign of forgiveness. A pardon is not a sign of vindication and does not connote or establish innocence. For that reason, when considering the merits of a pardon petition, pardon officials take into account the petitioner's acceptance of responsibility, remorse and atonement for the offense," according to the written instructions.

Critics have raised the question of whether Trump is sending a signal to his former allies and aides who are facing criminal charges in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation with his robust use of his pardoning power.

But when he was asked in April whether he would consider a pardon for Michael Cohen, his longtime lawyer who is now under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations, Trump snapped a two-word response: "Stupid question."

No one has ever thought of Trump as a pardoning kind of guy before and people in New York remember him for his vicious reaction to the Central Park 5. "Members of the Central Park Five say they no longer expect President Donald Trump to apologize more than a decade after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in the 1989 rape and assault of a jogger in New York’s Central Park. The five men, who were in their teens at the time of the crime, have been speaking out after Trump called for 'due process' last weekend after two White House aides resigned on accusations of abuse from their ex-wives. 'I can’t count on an apology from a person who doesn’t even know what it is to apologize,' said Yusef Salaam-- who was wrongfully convicted and jailed for five years-- of Trump’s defense of his staff during an appearance."