Copyright MSNBC
Donald Trump issued more pardons this week for criminally corrupt former government officials. At a time when the administration is threatening the health care of millions of Americans and locking up immigrants en masse, it’s notable that a principal beneficiary of Trump’s sympathy these days seems to be convicted criminals who have ties to his family or political movement. Trump on Thursday pardoned former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, NBC News reported. Both were convicted in September on corruption charges that involved wire fraud and attempted money laundering: Casada, a Republican, was sentenced in September to 36 months in prison after being convicted on 17 charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Cothren, the aide, received a shorter sentence. Casada confirmed the pardon on Thursday in a statement to NBC affiliate WSMV in Nashville, saying: ‘Yes the president called me today and granted me a full pardon. I am grateful of his trust and his full confidence in my innocence through this whole ordeal.’ The investigation into Casada and Cothren began during Trump’s first presidency, their trial was adjudicated by a Trump-appointed judge and the pair were ultimately convicted by a jury. Yet a White House official defended the pardon in a statement to NBC News that accused the Biden administration of mistreating the Republicans: ‘The Biden Department of Justice significantly over-prosecuted these individuals for a minor issue involving constituent mailers — which were billed at competitive prices, never received a complaint from legislators, and resulted in a net profit loss of less than $5,000. The Biden DOJ responded with an armed raid, perp walk, and suggested sentences exceeding 10 years — penalties normally reserved for multimillion-dollar fraudsters,’ the official told NBC News. Trump — who was convicted of fraud himself last year and continues to fight that reality — is building on his first-term legacy of shielding public officials convicted of corruption from accountability. In addition to Casada and Cothren, Trump commuted the sentence last month of convicted fraudster George Santos, the former Republican representative from New York. It remains to be seen whether the president will publicly deny knowing who Casada and Cothren are, as he did when asked about his recent pardon of convicted crypto investor Changpeng Zhao, who has helped fuel the Trump family’s crypto empire.
