Here’s a detailed breakdown of the **criminals pardoned or commuted by Donald Trump** during his presidency (2017–2021), along with the **financial and societal costs**—including how these actions disproportionately benefit the wealthy and harm average Americans.
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### **List of Trump Pardons & Commutations (2017–2021)**
*(Note: Some pardons were controversial due to ties to Trump’s allies, political favors, or corporate interests.)*
#### **1. Joe Arpaio (2017) – Sheriff Convicted of Civil Rights Violations**
– **Crime:** Found guilty of criminal contempt for defying a court order to stop racial profiling in Arizona.
– **Pardon Cost:** Undermined judicial accountability; emboldened law enforcement to ignore civil rights laws.
– **Impact on Consumers:**
– **Average Americans:** Arpaio’s pardon sent a message that racial profiling and abuse of power would go unpunished, eroding trust in law enforcement.
– **Wealthy Beneficiaries:** Corporate donors (e.g., private prison lobby) gained political protection for profit-driven policing.
#### **2. Dinesh D’Souza (2018) – Campaign Finance Violations**
– **Crime:** Pleaded guilty to illegal campaign contributions (straw donors to his Senate campaign).
– **Pardon Cost:** Undermined campaign finance laws; rewarded a far-right propagandist.
– **Impact on Consumers:**
– **Average Americans:** Weakened enforcement of election integrity laws, allowing dark money to influence politics.
– **Wealthy Beneficiaries:** Big donors (e.g., Sheldon Adelson) gained indirect protection for funneling illegal cash.
#### **3. Conrad Black (2019) – Fraud & Obstruction**
– **Crime:** Convicted of fraud and obstruction for embezzling from his own media company.
– **Pardon Cost:** Rewarded a billionaire media mogul with no restitution to victims.
– **Impact on Consumers:**
– **Average Americans:** Black’s victims (employees, shareholders) lost millions; pardons like this incentivize corporate fraud.
– **Wealthy Beneficiaries:** Media elites (e.g., Rupert Murdoch) gained a powerful ally in Trump.
#### **4. Roger Stone (2020) – Obstruction, Witness Tampering, Lying to Congress**
– **Crime:** Trump’s longtime ally was convicted of seven felonies for obstructing the Russia investigation.
– **Pardon Cost:** Directly obstructed justice; rewarded a crony who helped Trump evade accountability.
– **Impact on Consumers:**
– **Average Americans:** Stone’s pardon proved that even clear obstruction of justice goes unpunished for Trump’s inner circle.
– **Wealthy Beneficiaries:** Private intelligence firms (e.g., Black Cube) gained impunity for political dirty tricks.
#### **5. Paul Manafort (2020) – Tax Fraud, Bank Fraud, Foreign Lobbying Violations**
– **Crime:** Trump’s former campaign chairman was convicted of financial crimes and acting as a foreign agent (for Ukraine).
– **Pardon Cost:** Rewarded a lobbyist who enriched himself while undermining U.S. democracy.
– **Impact on Consumers:**
– **Average Americans:** Manafort’s fraud cost taxpayers millions in unpaid taxes; his lobbying harmed Ukraine’s sovereignty.
– **Wealthy Beneficiaries:** Oligarchs (e.g., Russian oligarchs linked to Manafort) and corporate lobbyists gained protection.
#### **6. Michael Flynn (2020) – Perjury, Foreign Lobbying (Russia
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