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True although I'm not so sure the power has been abused much in the past.
Trump definitely breaks the norm, as he always does, with his blatant display of corruption when it comes to his pardoning power. But here’s some other highlights:
September 8th, 1974
Gerald Ford grants an unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon, sparing him from a federal indictment and trial.March 26th, 1981
Ronald Reagan pardons FBI officials Mark Felt (later ID’d as “Deep Throat”) and Edward Miller, who’d authorized break-ins to the homes of radical Vietnam protesters.January 20th, 1989
Reagan pardons Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who’d pleaded guilty in 1974 to obstruction of justice and contributing illegally to the Nixon campaign.August 15th, 1989
Soon after he donates $100,000 to the Bush-Quayle inauguration fund, oil exec Armand Hammer is pardoned by George H.W. Bush for illegal campaign donations to Nixon.December 24th, 1992
Bush pardons six men in the Iran-Contra affair, including Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, in a possible bid to cover up his own alleged involvement.January 20th, 2001
On his last day in office, Bill Clinton pardons his brother, Roger, for a drug charge, as well as kidnapped heiress and onetime bank robber Patty Hearst, and Susan McDougal, who was jailed for refusing to testify in the Clintons’ Whitewater scandal.Clinton also pardons “fugitive financier” Marc Rich, ex-husband of a big Clinton fundraiser, wanted for evading $48 million in taxes and illegal oil trading with Iran.
January 19th, 2009
George W. Bush commutes the sentences of two border patrol agents who shot a fleeing, unarmed man.
Fyoosh-
Soon after he donates $100,000 to the Bush-Quayle inauguration fund, oil exec Armand Hammer is pardoned by George H.W. Bush for illegal campaign donations to Nixon.
Interestingly:
In the 1980s Hammer owned a considerable amount of stock in .... the company that manufactures Arm & Hammer products; he also served on its board of directors. However, the Arm & Hammer company's brand name did not originate with Armand Hammer. It was in use 31 years before Hammer was born. He was spurred to buy shares in the company as a result of often being asked about the brand being so close to his name.
Also the great-grandfather of Armie Hammer, who played both Winklevii in The Social Network.
chez_jay
True although I'm not so sure the power has been abused much in the past.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_granted_executive_clemency_by_Barack_Obama
Obama was big into pardoning people of reformed character convicted of drug offences facing life in jail.