
Trump expected to issue flurry of pardons on last day in office.
US President Donald Trump is expected to spend his last full day in office issuing a flurry of pardons and bidding farewell to the US public from a near-deserted White House, surrounded by an extraordinary security presence outside.
In one of his final acts as president, Trump was expected to grant clemency to as many as 100 people, according to two people briefed on the plans.
President Trump’s final wave of pardons includes non-violent offenders who have been serving life sentences for drug or fraud charges and whose names have been pushed by criminal justice reform advocates for years. https://t.co/IYgNl0S4zO
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 19, 2021
The list of pardons and commutations is expected to include names unfamiliar to the US public - regular people who have spent years languishing in prison - as well as politically-connected friends and allies like those he's pardoned in the past.
Republicans in Congress have reportedly begged the White House for pardons for their incitement at the US Capitol. But after learning it'd expose him personally, Trump refused.
Trump also has been using his final days in office to issue a steady stream of executive orders as he tries to lock in initiatives that President-elect Joe Biden is likely to ignore.
Trump has also recorded a video offering a final message to the US public before a farewell event at nearby Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday morning.
Once there, he will board Air Force One for a final time, flying to Florida and becoming the first outgoing president in more than a century to skip the inauguration of his successor.
Top Republican blames Trump for riot, with Pence to skip farewell event.
The top Republican in Congress has blamed outgoing US President Donald Trump for the violent mob that attacked the US Capitol this month.
"The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people," Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, said on the floor of the chamber.
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