US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on October 1, 2020. - The president returned to Washington, DC after attending a fundraiser...US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on October 1, 2020. - The president returned to Washington, DC after attending a fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)MORE LESS
Join us on this walk down memory lane…
Michael Cohen
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, was sentenced to three years in prison for tax fraud and campaign-finance violations. The investigation dealt with some of the same alleged activity for which Trump is now under investigation by the Manhattan DA. Cohen served time, Trump did not. Cohen’s seen here on April 13, 2018 near the Loews Regency hotel on Park Ave shortly after news broke that he was under criminal investigation
Trump Pardon? No. Definitely not.
(Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)
Paul Manafort
Paul Manafort’s mugshot photo, released by the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office. In August 2018, Manafort pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy against the United States and a single count of conspiracy to obstruct justice through witness tampering.
Trump Pardon? Yes.
(Photo by Alexandria Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images)
Allen Weisselberg
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg reached a plea deal in August, 2022 stemming from his role in various tax schemes at the Trump Organization over a period of 15 years. Weisselberg — who was facing 15 criminal charges — is seen here on a lunch break during the trial in November 2022.
Trump Pardon? Wasn’t available.
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
In October 2020, Trump campaign fundraiser Elliot Broidypleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Trump Pardon? Yes.
(Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Pepperdine University)
Steve Bannon
Former White House chief strategist and current right-wing activist Steve Bannon has done a number of things, some illegal, most merely condemned by vast majority of human beings. In August 2022, he was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress, stemming from its investigation into his role on January 6, 2021. He appealed his conviction in November. Here he is long before that, in March 2017, when he was merely advising the leader of the free world.
Trump Pardon? You bet.
(Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Michael Flynn
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s choice for National Security Advisor, talks with Cohen in December 2016. In 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to the FBI. In 2020, he tried to withdraw that plea. Things got really weird for awhile as Trump’s Justice Department sought to drop the charges, and the judge overseeing the case did not allow it to. Eventually Trump just pardoned him anyway.
Trump pardon? Yes.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
George Nader helped members of Trump’s team arrange meetings with contacts in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Then, in 2020, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography.
In August of 2018, during Manafort’s trial, a prosecutor asked Rick Gates — former business associate of Manafort — if two had committed crimes together. The answer to this question was yes. A few months earlier in February, Rick Gates took a plea deal and agreed to cooperate in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Here he is on Nov. 6, 2017.
(Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
The Trump Organization
The Trump Organization itself — distinct from its CFO, Weisselberg — was convicted on 17 counts, including tax fraud and other crimes, in 2022.
Trump Pardon? N/A
(Photo by Epics/Getty Images)
Roger Stone
Roger Stone, former advisor to Trump, was convicted in November 2019 on seven counts including five counts of false statements, obstruction, and witness tampering. Here he is though on January 5, 2021 surrounded by members of the extremist right-wing group the Oath Keepers. We all know what happens next.
Trump Pardon? Yes.
(Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
George Papadopoulos
A foreign policy advisor to Trump’s election campaign, George Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in jail for lying to the FBI.
Trump Pardon? Yes.
(Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images)
Joe Ragazzo (@JRagazzo)
is the publisher at TPM, overseeing the design, product and revenue staffs out of the New York City office. Joe used to be a journalist but realized if some journalists don't figure out how to make journalism financially sustainable, there won't be any left. He also says Go Browns.
To quote the great Canadian fart-joke comedy LETTERKENNY:
Nicest fellas you’d never want to leave your teenage daughter anywhere near.
Brings to my mind Langston Hughes “Let America Be America Again.”
A Rogues gallery, fer sure.