I don't really.
That's the same line trump uses when he's bullshitting.
Trump bribey-wibey-woo - update: Trump shakes down CBS news in $20B bullshit lawsuit for "emotional distress"
- Thread starter mandrill
- Start date
That's the same line trump uses when he's bullshitting.
Then why would you bother asking? While I appreciate your offer for me to share the contents of a private conversation, I think I will pass.
A former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes has been pardoned by President Donald Trump based on an application apparently focused not just on his offenses, but on the political activity of his mother.
Paul Walczak submitted his application for a pardon days after Trump’s inauguration. It noted that his mother, Elizabeth Fago, had raised millions of dollars for the president’s campaigns, as well as those of other Republicans, The New York Times reports, citing a person who received the application but was not authorized to share it.
It also claimed that Fago had connections to an effort to damage President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign by publicizing the diary of his daughter, Ashley Biden.
The application reportedly argued that Walczak’s criminal prosecution had resulted from his mother’s political advocacy, rather than the crimes to which he pleaded guilty — specifically, using money for employee taxes to fund his lifestyle, including the purchase of a yacht.
Weeks after the application for clemency was submitted, there was no news, while other Trump allies received pardons.
It was then that Fago was invited to a $1 million-per-person fundraising dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, which promised face-to-face time with the president. Less than three weeks later, the pardon came through.
Walczak was facing 18 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and would have to pay $4.4 million in restitution, according to a sentence handed down 12 days earlier.
The judge justified ordering the jail time by saying that there “is not a get-out-of-jail-free card” for the rich.
A White House official echoed the application’s argument, telling the Times that Walczak was “targeted by the Biden administration over his family’s conservative politics.”
Walczak withheld taxes from employee paychecks, totaling $7.4 million between 2016 and 2019. Over the same period, he also didn’t pay $3.4 million of his business’s portion of employee Social Security and Medicare taxes, according to the Justice Department.
During this time, $1 million was spent on a yacht, hundreds of thousands of dollars was transferred to personal accounts, and business accounts were used for shopping at Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier, and Saks.
Furthermore, in 2018, he ceased filing personal tax returns, despite continuing to receive a salary and transferring funds from the business accounts to his own personal use. Other transfers were made to a family member and his wife. In total, he owed the IRS $10.9 million.
He was charged in February 2023 with 13 counts of tax crimes, pleading guilty to two counts and agreeing to pay restitution on November 15, 2024, just 10 days after Trump won the presidential election.
According to the Times, Fago had held three fundraisers for Trump campaigns and attended VIP events at both the 2017 and 2025 inaugurations alongside her son, Walczak’s half-brother, Joey Fago, and his wife, social media posts show. They also attended a 2020 election night watch party at the White House and that year’s Christmas party.
She also reportedly played a role in the saga of Ashley Biden’s diary, found at a house in Delray Beach, Florida, that the former president’s daughter had been renting in the run-up to the 2020 election. The diary was apparently shown to Trump campaign officials at Fago’s home before being flagged to Project Veritas by Stephanie Walczak, her daughter.
In a subsequent probe during the Biden administration, investigators obtained a search warrant related to a Project Veritas official who sought information about “potential co-conspirators,” including communications with Fago and her daughter, among others.
After Trump re-entered the White House earlier this year, the Justice Department announced it was closing the investigation into the diary. Fago, her daughter, nor anyone at Project Veritas were ever charged.
Donald Trump's members-only Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where Elizabeth Fago attended a MAGA Inc. fundraiser (Getty Images)
In seeking clemency for Walczak, the application for a presidential pardon claimed his prosecution arose because he was the son of a prominent Trump supporter and cited the pardon issued to Hunter Biden by his father in the final days of his presidency.
Biden said in a statement at the time that Hunter “was singled out only because he is my son.”
While waiting for word on the pardon of her own son by Trump, Fago attended the fundraiser dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Although it was billed as having a $1 million price tag, it is unclear whether she donated to MAGA Inc., the political action committee sponsoring the event.
The amount was far larger than any of her previous donations to political causes of Trump’s campaigns, and the group has until July to disclose any information on donors.
After his pardon came through, a social media post shows the family celebrating with Walczak wearing a red, Trump-style hat with “Make Paul Great Again” written across the front.
The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb international reporting and analysis, The Independent now enjoys a reach that was inconceivable when it was launched as an upstart player in the British news industry. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, and across the world, pluralism, reason, a progressive and humanitarian agenda, and internationalism – Independent values – are under threat. Yet we, The Independent, continue to grow.
Trump pardoned a tax cheat. But only after his mom attended president’s $1 million dinner
Trump pardoned a tax cheat. But only after his mom attended president’s $1 million dinner
Paul Walczak submitted his application for a pardon days after Trump’s inauguration. It noted that his mother, Elizabeth Fago, had raised millions of dollars for the president’s campaigns, as well as those of other Republicans, The New York Times reports, citing a person who received the application but was not authorized to share it.
It also claimed that Fago had connections to an effort to damage President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign by publicizing the diary of his daughter, Ashley Biden.
The application reportedly argued that Walczak’s criminal prosecution had resulted from his mother’s political advocacy, rather than the crimes to which he pleaded guilty — specifically, using money for employee taxes to fund his lifestyle, including the purchase of a yacht.
Weeks after the application for clemency was submitted, there was no news, while other Trump allies received pardons.
It was then that Fago was invited to a $1 million-per-person fundraising dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, which promised face-to-face time with the president. Less than three weeks later, the pardon came through.
Walczak was facing 18 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and would have to pay $4.4 million in restitution, according to a sentence handed down 12 days earlier.
The judge justified ordering the jail time by saying that there “is not a get-out-of-jail-free card” for the rich.
A White House official echoed the application’s argument, telling the Times that Walczak was “targeted by the Biden administration over his family’s conservative politics.”
Walczak withheld taxes from employee paychecks, totaling $7.4 million between 2016 and 2019. Over the same period, he also didn’t pay $3.4 million of his business’s portion of employee Social Security and Medicare taxes, according to the Justice Department.
During this time, $1 million was spent on a yacht, hundreds of thousands of dollars was transferred to personal accounts, and business accounts were used for shopping at Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier, and Saks.
Furthermore, in 2018, he ceased filing personal tax returns, despite continuing to receive a salary and transferring funds from the business accounts to his own personal use. Other transfers were made to a family member and his wife. In total, he owed the IRS $10.9 million.
He was charged in February 2023 with 13 counts of tax crimes, pleading guilty to two counts and agreeing to pay restitution on November 15, 2024, just 10 days after Trump won the presidential election.
According to the Times, Fago had held three fundraisers for Trump campaigns and attended VIP events at both the 2017 and 2025 inaugurations alongside her son, Walczak’s half-brother, Joey Fago, and his wife, social media posts show. They also attended a 2020 election night watch party at the White House and that year’s Christmas party.
She also reportedly played a role in the saga of Ashley Biden’s diary, found at a house in Delray Beach, Florida, that the former president’s daughter had been renting in the run-up to the 2020 election. The diary was apparently shown to Trump campaign officials at Fago’s home before being flagged to Project Veritas by Stephanie Walczak, her daughter.
In a subsequent probe during the Biden administration, investigators obtained a search warrant related to a Project Veritas official who sought information about “potential co-conspirators,” including communications with Fago and her daughter, among others.
After Trump re-entered the White House earlier this year, the Justice Department announced it was closing the investigation into the diary. Fago, her daughter, nor anyone at Project Veritas were ever charged.
Donald Trump's members-only Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where Elizabeth Fago attended a MAGA Inc. fundraiser (Getty Images)
In seeking clemency for Walczak, the application for a presidential pardon claimed his prosecution arose because he was the son of a prominent Trump supporter and cited the pardon issued to Hunter Biden by his father in the final days of his presidency.
Biden said in a statement at the time that Hunter “was singled out only because he is my son.”
While waiting for word on the pardon of her own son by Trump, Fago attended the fundraiser dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Although it was billed as having a $1 million price tag, it is unclear whether she donated to MAGA Inc., the political action committee sponsoring the event.
The amount was far larger than any of her previous donations to political causes of Trump’s campaigns, and the group has until July to disclose any information on donors.
After his pardon came through, a social media post shows the family celebrating with Walczak wearing a red, Trump-style hat with “Make Paul Great Again” written across the front.
The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb international reporting and analysis, The Independent now enjoys a reach that was inconceivable when it was launched as an upstart player in the British news industry. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, and across the world, pluralism, reason, a progressive and humanitarian agenda, and internationalism – Independent values – are under threat. Yet we, The Independent, continue to grow.
Trump pardoned a tax cheat. But only after his mom attended president’s $1 million dinner
Trump pardoned a tax cheat. But only after his mom attended president’s $1 million dinner
President Donald Trump is expected to sign pardons for imprisoned reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley as soon as today.
The multimillionaire Trump-supporting couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023 on basic cable, are serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022.
Their daughter Savannah Chrisley, who has pushed for the pardon, revealed in an interview that Trump said her parents “didn’t look like terrorists” and he wanted to give them “the full pardon.”
“Well, he did say, he was like, you know, ‘You guys don't look like terrorists to me,’ she told NewsNation's On Balance with Leland Vittert Monday. “His exact words, which was pretty funny.”
The multimillionaire Trump-supporting couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023, are serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. (Getty Images for E3 Chophouse Na)
Trump called Savannah and her brother Grayson Chrisley Monday to share the news.
“Your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow. Is that OK? We'll try getting it done tomorrow,” the president said in the phone call which was shared by White House communications adviser Margo Martin.
The president will sign the pardons for the couple today, a White House official confirmed to The Independent.
Here is what we know about the Chrisleys’ pardon and what will happen next
Pardon was pursued by the Chrisleys’ daughter
Savannah Chrisley, 27, revealed in February that she was working to secure the pardon for her parents by “going through the proper channels.”
“I'm going to bring as much awareness to it as possible because these things should not happen,” she said.
Trump has met Savannah before when she spoke at the Republican National Convention last July. During her speech, she said that the family was “persecuted by rogue prosecutors” in part due to “our public profile and conservative beliefs.”
The Chrisleys’ plight was presented to Trump by criminal justice reform advocate Alice Marie Johnson, who was granted clemency by the president during his first term, a White House official confirmed. Kim Kardashian was the one who campaigned for Johnson’s release after she was hit with a life prison sentence for a non-violent, first-time drug offence.
On a phone call with Trump, the couple’s children both thanked the president for giving their parents ‘a second chance.’ Grayson, 19, became visibly emotional while speaking to the president on the phone. ‘Mr President, I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents back,’ he said. (Getty Images)
“I don't know them, but give them my regards,” Trump also said in the phone call. “They were given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I'm hearing.
“I hear they're terrific people. This should not have happened.”
The couple’s children both thanked Trump for giving their parents “a second chance.” Grayson, 19, became visibly emotional while speaking to the president on the phone. “Mr President, I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents back,” he said.
Savannah praised the Trump administration in a gushing post on X. “This moment is bigger than just my family…it’s about an administration that believes in second chances, that restores families, and that brings hope back to the American people,” she wrote shortly after news of the pardon broke Monday.
“To President Trump and his team — thank you for believing in justice over vengeance.”
Fraud and tax evasion conviction
Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans in 2022. Prosecutors said the couple walked away from their responsibility for repayment when Todd declared bankruptcy.
They were also both found guilty of tax evasion and conspiring to defraud the IRS, while Julie Chrisley was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Savannah Chrisley, pictured with Todd Chrisley in 2016, has campaigned to secure the pardon for her parents from the Trump administration. Savannah revealed in an interview that Trump told her that her parents ‘didn’t look like terrorists’ and he wanted to give them ‘the full pardon.’ (Getty)
Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, and Todd Chrisley got 12 years behind bars. The couple was also ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution. The couple have been appealing their case since being sentenced in November 2022.
“We have nothing to hide and have done nothing to be ashamed of,” Todd Chrisley said in a statement after the couple was indicted in August 2019. “Not only do we know we've done nothing wrong, but we've got a ton of hard evidence and bunch of corroborating witnesses that proves it.”
Todd Chrisley has been serving his sentence at a minimum security federal prison camp and previously had a release date of June 2032, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Julie Chrisley is at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, and was not set to be released until April 2028.
Critics accuse the Trump administration of ‘blatant corruption’
The Chrisleys are longtime Trump supporters, which critics have seized upon to accuse the administration of “blatant corruption.”
“For context: The Chrisleys are well-known Trump supporters,” Ally Sammarco, a Democratic strategist, told her followers on X.
“Trump just pardoned TV personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley, who conspired to defraud Atlanta-area banks out of $30 million in fraudulent loans. In Trump’s America, crimes are celebrated and prison sentences are cut short,” said Harry Sisson, a Democratic influencer, on X, calling it “actual insanity.”
Savannah Chrisley spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, where she said that her parents were ‘persecuted’ for their political beliefs. (Getty Images)
In another post, Sisson noted that the pardons for the Chrisleys come as Trump also pardoned “a corrupt Virginia sheriff who took over $75,000 in bribes” (Trump called him a “wonderful person”), and a “man convicted of serious tax crimes, whose mom donated $1 million to Trump and worked on his campaigns.”
Sisson called it “blatant corruption.”
“Their daughter, Savannah, campaigned for Trump. During a speech at the RNC in 2024, she said her parents were ‘persecuted’ for their political beliefs,” Anna Bower, a reporter for Lawfare, said.
In February, Todd Chrisley’s attorney claimed that guards at FPC Pensacola removed a MAGA (Make America Great Again) sticker from his cell. At the time, Chrisley’s lawyer Jay Surgent said he was hopeful Trump would soon grant him a pardon.
“It will be up to President Trump to review their cases,” Surgent told TMZ at the time. “Todd has faith he will be given due consideration because he feels that he never received constitutional protections in a fair criminal justice system.”
‘Don’t look like terrorists’: How Trump pardon of Todd and Julie Chrisley unfolded and what happens next
The multimillionaire Trump-supporting couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023 on basic cable, are serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022.
Their daughter Savannah Chrisley, who has pushed for the pardon, revealed in an interview that Trump said her parents “didn’t look like terrorists” and he wanted to give them “the full pardon.”
“Well, he did say, he was like, you know, ‘You guys don't look like terrorists to me,’ she told NewsNation's On Balance with Leland Vittert Monday. “His exact words, which was pretty funny.”
The multimillionaire Trump-supporting couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023, are serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. (Getty Images for E3 Chophouse Na)
Trump called Savannah and her brother Grayson Chrisley Monday to share the news.
“Your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow. Is that OK? We'll try getting it done tomorrow,” the president said in the phone call which was shared by White House communications adviser Margo Martin.
The president will sign the pardons for the couple today, a White House official confirmed to The Independent.
Here is what we know about the Chrisleys’ pardon and what will happen next
Pardon was pursued by the Chrisleys’ daughter
Savannah Chrisley, 27, revealed in February that she was working to secure the pardon for her parents by “going through the proper channels.”
“I'm going to bring as much awareness to it as possible because these things should not happen,” she said.
Trump has met Savannah before when she spoke at the Republican National Convention last July. During her speech, she said that the family was “persecuted by rogue prosecutors” in part due to “our public profile and conservative beliefs.”
The Chrisleys’ plight was presented to Trump by criminal justice reform advocate Alice Marie Johnson, who was granted clemency by the president during his first term, a White House official confirmed. Kim Kardashian was the one who campaigned for Johnson’s release after she was hit with a life prison sentence for a non-violent, first-time drug offence.
On a phone call with Trump, the couple’s children both thanked the president for giving their parents ‘a second chance.’ Grayson, 19, became visibly emotional while speaking to the president on the phone. ‘Mr President, I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents back,’ he said. (Getty Images)
“I don't know them, but give them my regards,” Trump also said in the phone call. “They were given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I'm hearing.
“I hear they're terrific people. This should not have happened.”
The couple’s children both thanked Trump for giving their parents “a second chance.” Grayson, 19, became visibly emotional while speaking to the president on the phone. “Mr President, I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents back,” he said.
Savannah praised the Trump administration in a gushing post on X. “This moment is bigger than just my family…it’s about an administration that believes in second chances, that restores families, and that brings hope back to the American people,” she wrote shortly after news of the pardon broke Monday.
“To President Trump and his team — thank you for believing in justice over vengeance.”
Fraud and tax evasion conviction
Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans in 2022. Prosecutors said the couple walked away from their responsibility for repayment when Todd declared bankruptcy.
They were also both found guilty of tax evasion and conspiring to defraud the IRS, while Julie Chrisley was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Savannah Chrisley, pictured with Todd Chrisley in 2016, has campaigned to secure the pardon for her parents from the Trump administration. Savannah revealed in an interview that Trump told her that her parents ‘didn’t look like terrorists’ and he wanted to give them ‘the full pardon.’ (Getty)
Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, and Todd Chrisley got 12 years behind bars. The couple was also ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution. The couple have been appealing their case since being sentenced in November 2022.
“We have nothing to hide and have done nothing to be ashamed of,” Todd Chrisley said in a statement after the couple was indicted in August 2019. “Not only do we know we've done nothing wrong, but we've got a ton of hard evidence and bunch of corroborating witnesses that proves it.”
Todd Chrisley has been serving his sentence at a minimum security federal prison camp and previously had a release date of June 2032, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Julie Chrisley is at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, and was not set to be released until April 2028.
Critics accuse the Trump administration of ‘blatant corruption’
The Chrisleys are longtime Trump supporters, which critics have seized upon to accuse the administration of “blatant corruption.”
“For context: The Chrisleys are well-known Trump supporters,” Ally Sammarco, a Democratic strategist, told her followers on X.
“Trump just pardoned TV personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley, who conspired to defraud Atlanta-area banks out of $30 million in fraudulent loans. In Trump’s America, crimes are celebrated and prison sentences are cut short,” said Harry Sisson, a Democratic influencer, on X, calling it “actual insanity.”
Savannah Chrisley spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, where she said that her parents were ‘persecuted’ for their political beliefs. (Getty Images)
In another post, Sisson noted that the pardons for the Chrisleys come as Trump also pardoned “a corrupt Virginia sheriff who took over $75,000 in bribes” (Trump called him a “wonderful person”), and a “man convicted of serious tax crimes, whose mom donated $1 million to Trump and worked on his campaigns.”
Sisson called it “blatant corruption.”
“Their daughter, Savannah, campaigned for Trump. During a speech at the RNC in 2024, she said her parents were ‘persecuted’ for their political beliefs,” Anna Bower, a reporter for Lawfare, said.
In February, Todd Chrisley’s attorney claimed that guards at FPC Pensacola removed a MAGA (Make America Great Again) sticker from his cell. At the time, Chrisley’s lawyer Jay Surgent said he was hopeful Trump would soon grant him a pardon.
“It will be up to President Trump to review their cases,” Surgent told TMZ at the time. “Todd has faith he will be given due consideration because he feels that he never received constitutional protections in a fair criminal justice system.”
‘Don’t look like terrorists’: How Trump pardon of Todd and Julie Chrisley unfolded and what happens next
Ya everyone becomes a member of an escort board -to post continuously on the politics forum. So JC of you ! LIt's so funny you said that, they said you would accuse me of being a previous member which I found confusing but apparently you've made a lot of enemies on this board. They said you're juvenile, arrogant and refuse to admit when you are wrong. So far everything they said has been spot on. But hey, if it's working for you more power to you man. From what I'm told you will soon start to accuse me of using multiple handles and conspiring with others who share my political views. Now that I'm saying it out loud it's sounds a bit like paranoia.
I post in many of the forums here....I thought that's what we're supposed to do?
You need to learn how to deal with a snowflake...I post in many of the forums here....I thought that's what we're supposed to do?
But there's a flurry of them?You need to learn how to deal with a snowflake...
It's easy to deal with 'em... a few gifs should do it...But there's a flurry of them?
MAGA are such easy marks.You need to learn how to deal with a snowflake...
Let me know when he catches up to Biden or starts to pardon his direct family members like Biden. Until then not much
Biden didn't need to, he just pardoned his whole family, avoiding any judicial issues.
This is pretty much corruption in the open. As i said earlier, the Penguin is now mayor of Gotham and crime can pay if you pay.
The man Donald Trump appointed to review pardon requests at the Department of Justice is already reviewing full clemency for Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia group who was convicted of treason-related charges in connection with the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.
Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin recently met with lawyer Peter Ticktin, who delivered 11 pardon applications — including one for Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison in connection with the Capitol assault.
An attorney for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes met with Trump’s pardon attorney Ed Martin to request full clemency for treason-related charges in connection with January 6 (Middle East Images)
Hours after taking office, Trump commuted his sentence, along with the sentences of 13 other Capitol rioters, including Oath Keepers and Proud Boys members who were similarly convicted. Rhodes was released from prison hours later.
Ticktin also presented pardon applications Oath Keepers members and associates David Moerschel, Don Wilson and Kelly Meggs, as well Dominic Pezzola, Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Zach Rehl, members of the neo-fascist Proud Boys gang.
He also presented applications for Elias Costianes and Ben Martin, who were also convicted in January 6 cases.
Ticktin also presented an application for former Arkansas State Senator Jonathan Woods, who was charged in a bribery scheme and sentenced to more than 18 years in prison after he “was wrongfully convicted, over sentenced, and mistreated leading to two open heart surgeries,” Ticktin told The Independent.
Martin, a prominent “Stop the Steal” activist who defended Jan. 6 defendants, was briefly Trump’s top prosecutor in Washington, D.C., tasked with running the office that handled those prosecutions. Trump recently withdrew his name for consideration for the role and instead installed him as the pardon chief and head of the Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group.”
According to Politico, the renewed effort to fully pardon Rhodes and other Jan. 6 offenders was arranged by Ticktin and Treniss Evans, who help run the right-wing nonprofit legal group American Rights Alliance.
“I listened! Cuz he’s wise,” Martin said about the meeting.
The Independent has requested comment from the White House.
A fresh round of pardon requests from defendants charged with the most serious crimes surrounding the attack will now head to White House pardon czar Alice Johnson.
Trump is meanwhile expected to issue pardons for reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud and sentenced to several years in prison.
The president also recently pardoned Paul Walczak, who pleaded guilty to tax crimes. The pardon was issued one month after Walczak’s mother attended a Mar-a-Lago fundraising dinner charging $1 million per person.
Trump appointed Ed Martin as the Justice Department pardon attorney after he briefly served as the top prosecutor in Washington, D.C. (AP)
The president has pardoned nearly 1,600 defendants charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol.
Rhodes founded his far-right anti-government militia group in 2009 and claimed thousands of members across the country, including current and former service members and law enforcement officers, preparing for armed civil war in defense of what they perceive as threats to the Constitution.
Rhodes and his allies spent weeks discussing a violent response to the 2020 election on encrypted messaging apps, then organized a weapons and supply cache at a nearby hotel before joining the mob.
After several members breached the Capitol, shouting “this is our f*****g house” and “we took the f*****g Capitol,” Rhodes hailed them as “patriots.” He told an ally that his only regret that day was that the group wasn’t armed. Rhodes did not enter the building.
Days after Jan. 6, Rhodes typed a message intended for then-President Trump, calling on him to “save the republic” or “die in prison.”
That message was ultimately never delivered, but it echoed another message published on the Oath Keepers website weeks earlier, urging Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and deputize Rhodes and the Oath Keepers to take up arms.
“It’s better to wage it with you as Commander-in-Chief than to have you comply with a fraudulent election, leave office, and leave the White House in the hands of illegitimate usurpers and Chinese puppets,” Rhodes wrote at the time.
He followed up with another message demanding that Trump deliver a “crushing blow” to his enemies “while they sleep, wrapped in their arrogance.”
Rhodes also instructed his allies to “get gear squared away and ready to fight,” adding that “Trump has one last chance right now to stand but he will need us and our rifles too.”
More than 1,000 Jan. 6 defendants pleaded guilty. More than 200 people were found guilty at trial — including 10 defendants like Rhodes and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio were found guilty of seditious conspiracy.
Judges who presided over Jan. 6 cases have barely hidden their contempt for Trump’s sweeping pardons for virtually every member of the mob — and have issued stark warnings against attempts to rewrite the history of the attack.
Last year, the federal judge who presided over Rhodes’s case said the prospect of a pardon for his crimes “is frightening and ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country.”
“You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country and its democracy and the very fabric of this country,” District Judge Amit Mehta told Rhodes during his sentencing hearing in 2023. “You are smart, you are compelling, and you are charismatic. Frankly, that is what makes you dangerous.”
District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presided over Trump’s federal election interference case, wrote that Trump’s pardons “cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake.”
ca.news.yahoo.com
Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin recently met with lawyer Peter Ticktin, who delivered 11 pardon applications — including one for Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison in connection with the Capitol assault.
An attorney for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes met with Trump’s pardon attorney Ed Martin to request full clemency for treason-related charges in connection with January 6 (Middle East Images)
Hours after taking office, Trump commuted his sentence, along with the sentences of 13 other Capitol rioters, including Oath Keepers and Proud Boys members who were similarly convicted. Rhodes was released from prison hours later.
Ticktin also presented pardon applications Oath Keepers members and associates David Moerschel, Don Wilson and Kelly Meggs, as well Dominic Pezzola, Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Zach Rehl, members of the neo-fascist Proud Boys gang.
He also presented applications for Elias Costianes and Ben Martin, who were also convicted in January 6 cases.
Ticktin also presented an application for former Arkansas State Senator Jonathan Woods, who was charged in a bribery scheme and sentenced to more than 18 years in prison after he “was wrongfully convicted, over sentenced, and mistreated leading to two open heart surgeries,” Ticktin told The Independent.
Martin, a prominent “Stop the Steal” activist who defended Jan. 6 defendants, was briefly Trump’s top prosecutor in Washington, D.C., tasked with running the office that handled those prosecutions. Trump recently withdrew his name for consideration for the role and instead installed him as the pardon chief and head of the Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group.”
According to Politico, the renewed effort to fully pardon Rhodes and other Jan. 6 offenders was arranged by Ticktin and Treniss Evans, who help run the right-wing nonprofit legal group American Rights Alliance.
“I listened! Cuz he’s wise,” Martin said about the meeting.
The Independent has requested comment from the White House.
A fresh round of pardon requests from defendants charged with the most serious crimes surrounding the attack will now head to White House pardon czar Alice Johnson.
Trump is meanwhile expected to issue pardons for reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud and sentenced to several years in prison.
The president also recently pardoned Paul Walczak, who pleaded guilty to tax crimes. The pardon was issued one month after Walczak’s mother attended a Mar-a-Lago fundraising dinner charging $1 million per person.
Trump appointed Ed Martin as the Justice Department pardon attorney after he briefly served as the top prosecutor in Washington, D.C. (AP)
The president has pardoned nearly 1,600 defendants charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol.
Rhodes founded his far-right anti-government militia group in 2009 and claimed thousands of members across the country, including current and former service members and law enforcement officers, preparing for armed civil war in defense of what they perceive as threats to the Constitution.
Rhodes and his allies spent weeks discussing a violent response to the 2020 election on encrypted messaging apps, then organized a weapons and supply cache at a nearby hotel before joining the mob.
After several members breached the Capitol, shouting “this is our f*****g house” and “we took the f*****g Capitol,” Rhodes hailed them as “patriots.” He told an ally that his only regret that day was that the group wasn’t armed. Rhodes did not enter the building.
Days after Jan. 6, Rhodes typed a message intended for then-President Trump, calling on him to “save the republic” or “die in prison.”
That message was ultimately never delivered, but it echoed another message published on the Oath Keepers website weeks earlier, urging Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and deputize Rhodes and the Oath Keepers to take up arms.
“It’s better to wage it with you as Commander-in-Chief than to have you comply with a fraudulent election, leave office, and leave the White House in the hands of illegitimate usurpers and Chinese puppets,” Rhodes wrote at the time.
He followed up with another message demanding that Trump deliver a “crushing blow” to his enemies “while they sleep, wrapped in their arrogance.”
Rhodes also instructed his allies to “get gear squared away and ready to fight,” adding that “Trump has one last chance right now to stand but he will need us and our rifles too.”
More than 1,000 Jan. 6 defendants pleaded guilty. More than 200 people were found guilty at trial — including 10 defendants like Rhodes and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio were found guilty of seditious conspiracy.
Judges who presided over Jan. 6 cases have barely hidden their contempt for Trump’s sweeping pardons for virtually every member of the mob — and have issued stark warnings against attempts to rewrite the history of the attack.
Last year, the federal judge who presided over Rhodes’s case said the prospect of a pardon for his crimes “is frightening and ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country.”
“You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country and its democracy and the very fabric of this country,” District Judge Amit Mehta told Rhodes during his sentencing hearing in 2023. “You are smart, you are compelling, and you are charismatic. Frankly, that is what makes you dangerous.”
District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presided over Trump’s federal election interference case, wrote that Trump’s pardons “cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake.”
Trump’s pardon attorney considers full clemency for Oath Keepers and founder Stewart Rhodes over Jan. 6 crimes
Ed Martin is reviewing requests to pardon far-right militia members charged with treason-related crimes
I see, so you, as a rebranded newbie, are in this elite group of MAGA boys who talk about us soy-eating lefties??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, you are so full of shit, I am betting your eyes are chocolate brown!It's so funny you said that, they said you would accuse me of being a previous member which I found confusing but apparently you've made a lot of enemies on this board. They said you're juvenile, arrogant and refuse to admit when you are wrong. So far everything they said has been spot on. But hey, if it's working for you more power to you man. From what I'm told you will soon start to accuse me of using multiple handles and conspiring with others who share my political views. Now that I'm saying it out loud it's sounds a bit like paranoia.
Ah, so in your other handle, I must have accused you of having another account, which was probably part of the reason you've now rebranded. AH HA....LOL
I think Megatron and BumbleBee are bad-mouthing me.
It's because your posts are hilarious.
You already did in the above post telling me what is said about me, DUH....lmao
Because he though President Petty-Prick would harass them, the same way Petty-Prick harasses Dem-affiliated law firms.
Would be nice if Trump earned his wings the same way.Unhinged lefties are unstoppable....
