By Marisa Taylor
WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) – Two Democratic members of Congress on Monday pressed the administration of President Donald Trump to retain communication records related to pardons granted to recipients including an electric-vehicle manufacturer found guilty of defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Senator Peter Welch, a Judiciary Committee member from Vermont, and Congressman Dave Min, an Oversight Committee member from California, made the request to determine whether “improper considerations, including quid pro quo or ‘pay-to-play’ dynamics, may have affected the clemency process,” they wrote in letters to the White House, Justice Department and U.S. Secret Service.
The two lawmakers, citing coverage by Reuters and other media, in the letters reviewed by the news agency said they have been looking into the administration’s clemency efforts, which include pardons and commutations of sentences. They requested that all records be retained for 17 specific clemency recipients, including Trevor Milton, a businessman who was convicted in relation to a startup he ran touting electric vehicles that never became operational.
Last week a Reuters investigation found that 96% of Trump’s clemencies this term have gone to candidates, including Milton, who didn’t meet longstanding Justice Department guidelines for pardons. In response to questions from Reuters, a spokesperson for Milton criticized his conviction and said it had been politically motivated by prosecutors during the administration of President Joe Biden. The spokesperson didn’t respond to a question about the letters from the lawmakers.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, in a statement by email, called the letters “nothing more than a sad messaging attempt, coordinated between Democrats and their media allies.”
The Justice Department and Secret Service didn’t respond to requests for comment about the letters from Welch and Min. Reuters last week reported that some clemency seekers, during in-person visits to President Trump, have routed pardon requests through the Secret Service, instead of traditional channels at the Justice Department.
The White House and Justice Department have both denied any impropriety with Trump’s clemency actions. The administration has defended the president’s constitutional power to pardon as “absolute” and said the process under Trump involves thorough and coordinated vetting by appropriate officials.
In their letters, the lawmakers questioned those assertions. “While the president’s pardon authority is broad,” they wrote, “Congress retains a legitimate legislative interest when credible questions arise regarding process, access, or abuse of power.”
Reuters’ analysis of pardon, lobbying, and electoral records found that clemency in the current administration routinely ignores longstanding protocol involving the Justice Department and instead hinges upon an informal and highly personalized network of influencers and advocates appealing to Trump himself. “This reporting,” the lawmakers wrote, “raises serious questions about whether traditional review channels were circumvented and whether established review procedures were followed, bypassed, sidelined, or inconsistently applied.”
(Editing by Paulo Prada.)
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