White House denies Trump influenced by 'pardon brokers' after '60 Minutes' investigation
A White House spokesperson denied the suggestion that President Donald Trump's administration could be influenced by "pardon brokers" an issue examined by CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday.
During the show's season premiere, the long-running news program ran a segment on lobbyists reportedly negotiating for presidential pardons for particular clients based on alleged connections to the president.
"Presidents have been pardoning criminals since George Washington," correspondent Lesley Stahl said. "It's a constitutional power. No explanation needed. The Department of Justice does screen applicants and typically only recommends those who remorsefully seek mercy. But that's not always been the process. President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. President Clinton, Marc Rich after donations. President Biden, his son Hunter, and Anthony Fauci."
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"President Trump, he's developed his own vetting system, pardoning political allies, including all of the January 6 rioters, as well as a string of unrepentant financial conmen who argued, just like him, that they were wrongly prosecuted," she continued. "How did these people get their grievances in the president's ear? Donations appear to help and those who can pay hire pardon brokers, lawyers and lobbyists who sell their ties to the president for exorbitant fees. It's a marketplace of money and mercy."
In a comment to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Lauren Bis denied that Trump was influenced by any "lobbyist" regarding his presidential pardons. She further criticized past presidential pardons by former President Joe Biden, pointing out that many of his pardons released violent criminals.
"Anyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money and the President doesn’t even know who these so-called ‘lobbyists’ are. The Trump Administration has a robust pardon review process which includes White House counsel, the Department of Justice, pardon czar Alice Johnson, and ultimately, the President himself as the final decider," Bis said.
"The only pardons anyone should be critical of are from President Biden, who pardoned and commuted sentences of violent criminals including child killers and mass murderers, and extreme liberal Democrat Governors who pardoned illegal alien child rapists and attempted murderers in attempts to allow them to remain in our country," she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The latest season of "60 Minutes" came amid mass firings of longtime producers and correspondents as the network's editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, attempted to reorganize the program. One former producer and managing editor, Guy Campanile, suggested in a private Facebook post last week that the firings were because they refused to compromise with "White House talking points."
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"We would not compromise our principles or reputations by jamming unverifiable notions or White House talking points into our reporting," Campanile wrote. "We objected when told to conduct interviews arranged by the administration. We insisted on asking the most challenging questions to business and political leaders without fear or favor."
