US President Donald Trump granted clemency to former White House aide Steve Bannon as part of a wave of pardons and commutations issued in his final hours in the office but did not pardon himself, members of his family, or lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Report mentions, citing TASS.
Trump leaves office on Wednesday when Joe Biden is sworn in as the nation’s next president. According to a source familiar with the situation, White House officials had argued to Trump that he should not pardon himself or his family because it might look like they are guilty of crimes.
Bannon, a key adviser in Trump’s 2016 presidential run, was charged last year with defrauding the president’s supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build the president’s wall on the US-Mexico border. He has pleaded not guilty.
As part of more than 140 pardons and commutations, Trump also pardoned Elliott Broidy, a former top fundraiser for Trump, who pleaded guilty last year to violating foreign lobbying laws.
Rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, prosecuted on federal weapons offenses, were also granted pardons.