DOJ: Reviews Secret Pardon For Money Target

The entire justice department is now reviewing all possible evidence behind the secret scheme to get a presidential pardon in exchange for ‘substantial political contribution’ per records by the federal court made public on Tuesday.

DOJ: Reviews Secret Pardon For Money Target

U.S. District Judge unsealed the record, and they were heavily redacted. Beryl Howell unsealed documents, and he is the chief judge in the D.C. district. He is currently not yet found or identified any possible suspects in the case. But Beryl Howell indicated that some ‘unnamed and senior White House officials’ are the target of the current alleged plot.

Based on the 20-page filing, the entire team of authorities has started their investigation to secure a pardon and sentence reduction. CNN earlier reported this disclosure, and it came as President Donald Trump was weighing possible pardons for all associates. Some of the associates among the list were under two-year investigation, and it was related to Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Later, Trump dismissed the entire investigation conducted and carried by his administration and regarded it as ‘fake news’ through some post on Tuesday’s tweet. Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor, received a complete pardon from Donald Trump. He was pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI regarding his contacts with some Russian ambassador. In the early days of this year, Trump also commuted the sentence of confident Roger Stone, who was a Republican operative. He was earlier convicted for lying to Congress to protect the president’s campaign from the investigation, which was led by a special counsel Robert Mueller.

Based on court documents, investigators were seeking permission from August. They were trying to review the contents related to 50 digital devices, including few thumb drives, laptops, and even hard drives, for all possible evidence related to a bribery conspiracy.

Now, on Tuesday, the judge has granted the government’s request, and it has indicated that any of the attorney-client privileges did not protect the information. Based on court documents, there is no charge commenced as per a grand jury investigation against two people.

On Tuesday: The White House refused to comment

But, meantime, a Justice official also said that ‘there is no government official is or was the target in the entire investigation.’ He completely refused to elaborate on the inquiry. The official also declined to comment publicly since he is not authorized to comment.

Currently, it is the waning weeks of the Trump administration, and in this period, the president is expected to consider and clear out all possible relief types.

The New York Times on Tuesday reported that personal lawyer Ruby Giuliani and President Donald Trump discussed all possible preemptive pardons. This was the pardon related to the former New York mayor. It was focused on shielding him from current federal criminal charges. The charges have arisen for New York mayor since he worked as the president’s aggressive defender-in-chief.

But, in the administration, Giuliani has never been charged with any crime. Hence, the president’s albeit rarely, has now used all the existing pardon authority for protecting others. The same act seems to be and viewed as vulnerable for federal prosecution.

President Gerald Ford has pardoned his predecessor. It was Richard Nixon and in the year 1974. It was following his resignation in the mid of the Watergate scandal investigation. Another example is President Jimmy Carter, who offered very similar protection for those in the team and avoided the Vietnam draft.

But now, the pardon discussion which involved Giuliani has prompted a denial from the former mayor. Giuliani tweeted, ‘NYT lies again. I was not part of the discussion. They falsely attribute it to some anonymous source. Now, everyone should keep up with their lies.’

Robert Costello, Giuliani’s attorney, deferred to his client, and he said, ‘he would know.’ Meantime Robert Costello also said that Giuliani doesn’t need a pardon. He said, ‘Ruby Giuliani has never done something wrong. The same was always our position, and there is no change occurred.’

In New York, Giuliani’s business dealings are now examined by Federal investigators. The business dealings were with two men who are indicted last year for campaign finance violations. Igor Fruman of Belarus, as well as Ukrainian-born Lev Parnas, are two men on the list who were accused of conspiring to circumvent the current federal campaign finance laws. They accused the laws of funneling foreign money towards U.S. political candidates to buy influence.