Report: Trump Weighs Marking America 250 With Mass Pardons

The White House is reportedly mulling a headline-grabbing way to mark America's 250th birthday: 250 presidential pardons. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the discussions, reports that officials are exploring a mass clemency push this summer, potentially announced on June 14—Flag Day and President Trump's birthday—or on July 4. The idea would further widen Trump's already expansive use of the pardon power, which has included sweeping relief for Jan. 6 defendants and high-profile figures like Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and Ross Ulbricht, creator of the Silk Road drug marketplace.

Some White House aides, however, are wary of a fresh wave of pardons ahead of the fall midterms, according to the Journal's sources. The Independent notes that apart from the Capitol rioters, the vast majority of Trump's second-term pardons have involved fraudsters and other white-collar criminals, including at least 11 former members of Congress. The contemplated pardon blitz comes amid record demand: more than 16,000 clemency requests were filed last year, the Journal reports. Trump has ruled out a pardon for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, though he was noncommittal last year when asked about a potential pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell.