[ad_1]
Trump, who refuses to acknowledge his loss and who officials say turns more into denial, has nevertheless been eager to commit to who asks what. He received case summaries to review and, in some cases, polled his network of associates about whom he should forgive.
As the end of his presidency nears, Trump seems eager to exercise his powers before he finds them gone. Unlike virtually any other issue related to the end of his presidency, his leniency powers are something Trump seems to genuinely enjoy discussing, one person in communication with the president said, even if it amounts to another tacit reminder than his tenure. at the White House is almost finished.
It’s a stark contrast to how Trump responded to another, smaller effort that also intensifies as inauguration day approaches: an effort to convince Trump to accept the election results.
The Electoral College’s assertion of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory this week didn’t seem enough to shake Trump from his illusions of victory, but it adds urgency to a push by several of his advisers to steer gently Trump back to reality. Several of his closest allies have urged him to abandon his efforts to contest the election and start planning his political future after the White House – including a possible run in 2024.
Yet even amid the intractable transition movement and hasty activity of the lame duck – in which he is part of himself – Trump firmly refuses to admit that he has lost.
In his moments of deepest denial, Trump told some advisers he would refuse to leave the White House on inauguration day, only to be stepped off that ledge. This possibility has alarmed some aides, but few believe Trump will actually follow.
“He’s throwing a tantrum,” one adviser said. “He’s going to leave. He’s just going after it.”
The White House declined to comment on this report.
Yet even in the midst of his illusions, Trump behaves like a president in winter: abandoning the core responsibilities of his job as he searches for ways to reward loyalists while he still can.
sorry
Nowhere is the end of Trump’s tenure more evident than in the demand for pardons.
“It’s gone crazy,” said a person familiar with the efforts. “There is a lot of activity.”
Because Trump has shown little interest in using the Department of Justice’s Pardon Attorney system to assess leaders’ clemency requests, petitioners go directly to the White House, calling or emailing to Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows or White House attorney Pat Cipollone when they can’t reach Trump himself.
“Everyone assumed there was no formal process and they would have to contact the administration directly,” the person said. “Everyone is hoping to have a friend of a friend of a friend of a cousin who, he hopes, will get them to read their email.”
If there is one guiding principle in which it seems most likely to obtain leniency, it is someone the president knows personally or has strong connections lobbying on their behalf. At least one person working on behalf of clients asking for pardons has said she hopes their loyalty to Trump over the past four years will now bear fruit.
In this case, Trump is reflecting on pardons at a time when loyalty emerges as his main concern, complaining repeatedly over the past few weeks that Republicans are deserting him when he needed to help reverse the results of the elections.
He has largely excluded those advisers and associates who do not seem on the same page. A person who spoke to Trump regularly, but gently encouraged him to soften his post-election stance, hasn’t received his calls and hasn’t heard from Trump for weeks.
In total, the president plans to pardon more than two dozen people in his orbit who he says have been targeted – or may be in the future – for political purposes. This is in addition to hundreds of requests from others who have contacted the White House directly and tens of thousands of others whose petitions are pending at the Justice Department.
Instead, Trump focused more on those in his own circle, including Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser whom he pardoned last month.
Another name among the many leniency contenders: Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, who has come under scrutiny by investigators for his role in silent payments.
As of this week, officials have said a preemptive pardon for Trump himself has also not been ruled out.
Dig
Efforts to convince Trump to accept his loss have come up against a president who seems increasingly entrenched in his denial of Biden’s victory, encouraged by advisers like Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis who mislead Trump about the scale of the voting irregularities and outlook. of a reversal.
While Trump had begun to privately accept the reality that he lost the election late last month, advisers say Trump has now turned around and dug deeper – not just by spreading misinformation about the election, but by ingesting it itself.
“He’s been fed so much misinformation that I think he actually thinks this thing was stolen from him,” a Trump adviser said of the president.
The president also began asking if he could appoint special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden and Trump’s baseless allegations of electoral fraud, according to a person familiar with the matter, a move Barr should oppose.
Cipollone, who is close to Barr, eventually helped organize a meeting between the two men at the White House on Monday which resulted in a cordial exchange ending with Barr’s presentation of his resignation.
Trump tweeted Barr’s resignation letter 23 minutes after the electorate officially swung in favor of Biden. As he has already done on days filled with particularly bad news – including after the Supreme Court denied his efforts to invalidate the votes – Trump refused to show up to his own Christmas party, held one floor below. his residence at the White House.
Avoid the subject
Inside the White House, on the rare occasion when the conversation turns to inauguration day or life after January 20, Trump virtually stops. He has made it clear to staff in recent days that he does not wish to discuss whether or not to participate in Biden’s swearing-in and has largely cut off any conversations about leaving office, according to several people familiar with the discussions. Because of this, the president’s key associates were reluctant to discuss it with him.
Those close to Trump continue to consider it highly unlikely that the outgoing president will attend Biden’s inauguration. “He won’t,” an adviser said of the current thinking within Trump’s circle of allies.
Six weeks after polling day, Trump spent more than half of his days without public appearances, showing little interest in the daily work of president. In all, there were 20 days without any public events listed on Trump’s calendar in the weeks after Election Day, and no intelligence briefing. He has made 13 public open appearances to the press, conducted a single on-camera interview, and answered journalists’ questions only twice. On the other hand, he spent nine days on his golf course.
Over the weekend, when he escaped Washington for just the second time since polling day to attend the Army-Navy match, Trump remained as obsessed as ever over his electoral loss. Driving in thick fog from the airport to the West Point campus, Trump posted a tweet complaining about the Republican Governor of Georgia.
Once there, Trump didn’t even stay until half-time, returning to his plane after recording an interview with Fox News.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Jim Acosta contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
