President Donald Trump on Dec. 22 released a list of 20 pardons, including those convicted in the Russia investigation and three former Republican lawmakers convicted for financial crimes.
George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser in the 2016 presidential election, was granted a full pardon. He was convicted for conduct uncovered during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump administration’s ties to Russia, and the White House defended the pardon saying it helped right the wrongs caused by Mueller’s team.
Lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, who was convicted of lying to investigators during the Mueller probe, was also among those pardoned. He and Papadopoulos both served brief prison sentences.
The three former Republican lawmakers on the pardon list were convicted of crimes including securities fraud and misuse of campaign funds.
Trump’s pardons are modest compared to the 212 pardons and 1,715 commutations issued by Obama during his eight years in office, but there may be others before Democratic president-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Democratic President-elect Joe Biden criticized President Trump on Tuesday after learning of a months-long cyber attack that damaged U.S. institutions. Biden vowed to “respond in the same way” to the cyberattacks, which officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General John Barr have named Russia as a prime suspect in the cyberattacks that began in March 2020.
There’s a lot we don’t know about this attack, including the overall scale of the attack or the extent of the damage that was done,” said Biden, the Democratic president-elect. But what we do know is that this attack posed a serious risk to our national security, was carefully planned and orchestrated, and was accomplished through the use of sophisticated cyber tools. These characteristics do fit with Russia’s long history of reckless, destructive cyber activity, but the Trump administration needs to formally clarify where responsibility lies.”
As he continues to organize the future administration, Biden signaled the need to hire experts for leadership positions to improve U.S. cyber defenses and develop a set of international cybersecurity rules for countries to follow.
Biden said, “We must convene our allies and friends so that we can hold accountable any country that violates these basic rules. I believe that when I understand the extent of the damage in this instance and the clarity of who is officially responsible, they can be confident that we will respond and may respond in the same way that I have many options but will not discuss now.”
Separately, California Governor Newsom said on Tuesday that he will appoint Alex Padilla to fill the remainder of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ term in the U.S. Senate. California Secretary of State Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be the first Hispanic U.S. senator to represent California. Padilla cried tears of joy when he learned the news.
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