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Trump Pardon Watch Thread

Hookah Horns

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washparkhorn
washparkhorn

The Turkeys Corn and Cob are not amused by all the anti-pardon rancor.   

HenryJames
HenryJames
Brisketexan
Brisketexan

Yep. However, one of my law school profs DID lead a lawsuit against Chile, for assassinating a Chilean dissident on US soil.  Chile said "fuck you, get your judgment and try to collect!"  So, he

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Francisco 2.0

Francisco 2.0 32,395

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Florida man who ran Ponzi scam over $300 million gets his sentence commuted.  Trump supporter who was a victim now questions how "honest" Trump really is.

 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/01/19/trump-commutes-40-year-sentence-of-clearwater-ponzi-scheme-operator/

 

Quote

Before the flurry of 100 pardons and commutations that the White House is expected to announce today, President Donald Trump issued a single commutation last week to the mastermind of a $300 million vacation rental fraud that operated in Clearwater and 16 other sites.

A federal judge in 2016 sentenced Fred Davis Clark Jr. to 40 years in prison for his role as CEO in Cay Clubs Resorts and Marina, which promised to turn dilapidated properties in Florida, Las Vegas and the Caribbean into luxury resorts. Beginning in 2004, Clark raised more than $300 million from 1,400 investors who were promised steady rental income and an upfront leaseback payment of 20 percent of the sales price of the units.

 

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The operation was really a Ponzi scheme that used sales proceeds from new investors to pay overdue obligations to earlier participants, the U.S. Department of Justice found.

Investors lost retirements and life savings. But prosecutors proved Clark, 62, used funds from his scheme to pay for a lavish lifestyle, including extracting $22 million, and buying a gold mine and a rum distillery for his personal benefit.

 

Quote

“I’m more disappointed for the investor victims and the dedicated public servants across the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice who put their hearts and souls into this prosecution and had the rug pulled out from under them,” said Bruce Barnes, a Safety Harbor attorney who filed a lawsuit in 2016 on behalf of the homeowners association of the Grand Venezia off U.S. 19 and Belleair Road, which is still levied assessments to pay off Clark’s debt.

Trump issued the commutation on Jan. 13, the first one of the year, which said: “The ends of justice do not require (Clark) to remain confined until his currently projected release date of August 14, 2048 and the safety of the community will not be compromised if he is released.”

 

Quote

Clark’s attorney, Claudia Pastorius, declined to answer questions about how his commutation was arranged, who got his case before Trump or whether he knows the president personally. Trump’s commutation did not wipe out the $179 million in restitution Clark is still obligated to pay, but Pastorius did not answer whether he intends to pay it.

 

Spoiler

“My client is grateful to be home with his family and appreciates President Trump’s showing of kindness and compassion,” Pastorius said in an email.

The pardons set to be issued today stem from a lucrative market of influence peddling, according to an investigation published Sunday by the New York Times. In the last weeks of Trump’s term, the president’s allies were “collecting fees from wealthy felons or their associates to push the White House for clemency,” according to the Times.

Trump did not commute the sentence of David Schwarz, Clark’s business partner who was also sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2017 for his role in the scheme. Schwarz was released on bond on Oct. 1 pending his appeal, according to court records.

Clark will live in Orlando under five years of supervised release, according to the Department of Justice.

The 40-year term had felt like justice to Kimball Pugmire, 71, who lost his life savings in the fraud.

“I thought well he will probably die in prison and he deserved it,” Pugmire said on Monday. “I was thinking that’s justice because now he can sit there the rest of his life contemplating what he’s done to other people.”

He said it’s hard to put a dollar figure on the devastation. He bought two units in Clearwater’s Grand Venezia and four in Las Vegas in 2006. When it became clear he was not going to receive leaseback payments, he had already begun developing a subdivision in Utah.

The lack of cash caused him to foreclose on his home, and lose the subdivision. He still works building homes, “a risky and hard way to make a living,” years after he dreamed of retiring.

When he received an email last week from the Department of Justice notifying him of Clark’s release, Pugmire said he was shocked. Pugmire had voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and supported his agenda. But he doesn’t understand how the president could wipe away the prison sentence “of a lifetime crook.”

“I had been trying to forget all this, but it makes you wonder, even being a Trump supporter, about his honesty,” Pugmire said.

Before his commutation, Clark had applied in May for bond pending his appeal, citing his risk of contracting COVID-19 at the prison where he was housed at the Federal Correctional Complex Coleman near Wildwood.

The judge denied bond on July 31, finding him to be a significant flight risk. After Clark was indicted in 2013, he “moved his family overnight from the Cayman Islands to Roatan, Honduras upon his belief that the Securities Exchange Commission could reach his assets in the Caymans,” the judge wrote.

When the Cay Clubs scheme began falling apart in 2006, Clark engaged in a serious of fraudulent mortgage transactions totaling more than $20 million of bank loans. Clark sold units to family members and insiders on paper while using proceeds of the loans for his own personal benefit, according to the Department of Justice.

The Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating but Clark thwarted their efforts, “including by concealing the location of assets under his control and providing false sworn testimony,” according to the Department of Justice.

Today, owners of the 336 units at Clearwater’s Grand Venezia still pay assessments to cover the $30 million in bonds Clark issued to build a water park, high-end retail, a spa, canals with gondoliers and other amenities around the existing apartments that were converted into condos — but the infrastructure was never built. And likely never will be.

“The conviction gave them a sense of relief and satisfaction that Clark didn’t get away with it because he was the mastermind,” said Barnes, the attorney representing the homeowners association.

“Somebody knows somebody, that’s for sure,” Barnes said.

 

Edited by Francisco 2.0
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TexasEd

TexasEd 8,067

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1 hour ago, horn4life said:

To me the most interesting thing about Pelosi's move to impeach Trump, is that I think it is going to leave his kids out int the cold.  I honestly believe that if not for impeachment Trump would have nothing to lose in pardoning all of his family members.  Unfortunately for his family members Trump only sees one thing... himself.  His personal calculation is that there is now more risk than reward in giving his family members pardons.

This may prove to be one of the most interesting calculations over time IMHO.  

Good news is as of now we have less the 24 more hours of this clown and he has to regurgitate his list of pardons eventually.  I am guessing tomorrow morning to try and get it buried in the Biden Inauguration, and try to steal a little spotlight one last time.

You give him too much credit.  Bet on the self-pardon.  He'll claim anything that tries to negate it as a witch hunt.

That's as deep as his thinking goes.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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He will in two weeks.  But you have to invest three weeks first, then you get your two weeks.  And then find someone else to invest three weeks after you.  But you'll get one of their three weeks back to you, provided they find someone to also give three weeks of their time.  

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Post Oak

Post Oak 20,249

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1 hour ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Florida man who ran Ponzi scam over $300 million gets his sentence commuted.  Trump supporter who was a victim now questions how "honest" Trump really is.

 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/01/19/trump-commutes-40-year-sentence-of-clearwater-ponzi-scheme-operator/

 

 

 

 

 

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“My client is grateful to be home with his family and appreciates President Trump’s showing of kindness and compassion,” Pastorius said in an email.

The pardons set to be issued today stem from a lucrative market of influence peddling, according to an investigation published Sunday by the New York Times. In the last weeks of Trump’s term, the president’s allies were “collecting fees from wealthy felons or their associates to push the White House for clemency,” according to the Times.

Trump did not commute the sentence of David Schwarz, Clark’s business partner who was also sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2017 for his role in the scheme. Schwarz was released on bond on Oct. 1 pending his appeal, according to court records.

Clark will live in Orlando under five years of supervised release, according to the Department of Justice.

The 40-year term had felt like justice to Kimball Pugmire, 71, who lost his life savings in the fraud.

“I thought well he will probably die in prison and he deserved it,” Pugmire said on Monday. “I was thinking that’s justice because now he can sit there the rest of his life contemplating what he’s done to other people.”

He said it’s hard to put a dollar figure on the devastation. He bought two units in Clearwater’s Grand Venezia and four in Las Vegas in 2006. When it became clear he was not going to receive leaseback payments, he had already begun developing a subdivision in Utah.

The lack of cash caused him to foreclose on his home, and lose the subdivision. He still works building homes, “a risky and hard way to make a living,” years after he dreamed of retiring.

When he received an email last week from the Department of Justice notifying him of Clark’s release, Pugmire said he was shocked. Pugmire had voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and supported his agenda. But he doesn’t understand how the president could wipe away the prison sentence “of a lifetime crook.”

“I had been trying to forget all this, but it makes you wonder, even being a Trump supporter, about his honesty,” Pugmire said.

Before his commutation, Clark had applied in May for bond pending his appeal, citing his risk of contracting COVID-19 at the prison where he was housed at the Federal Correctional Complex Coleman near Wildwood.

The judge denied bond on July 31, finding him to be a significant flight risk. After Clark was indicted in 2013, he “moved his family overnight from the Cayman Islands to Roatan, Honduras upon his belief that the Securities Exchange Commission could reach his assets in the Caymans,” the judge wrote.

When the Cay Clubs scheme began falling apart in 2006, Clark engaged in a serious of fraudulent mortgage transactions totaling more than $20 million of bank loans. Clark sold units to family members and insiders on paper while using proceeds of the loans for his own personal benefit, according to the Department of Justice.

The Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating but Clark thwarted their efforts, “including by concealing the location of assets under his control and providing false sworn testimony,” according to the Department of Justice.

Today, owners of the 336 units at Clearwater’s Grand Venezia still pay assessments to cover the $30 million in bonds Clark issued to build a water park, high-end retail, a spa, canals with gondoliers and other amenities around the existing apartments that were converted into condos — but the infrastructure was never built. And likely never will be.

“The conviction gave them a sense of relief and satisfaction that Clark didn’t get away with it because he was the mastermind,” said Barnes, the attorney representing the homeowners association.

“Somebody knows somebody, that’s for sure,” Barnes said.

 

These people believed in Santa Claus until they were 14

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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15,539

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Is there some delivery requirement for a pardon?  I'm thinking of something akin to the requirement that the commission be delivered in Marbury v. Madison.

It just seems to me that there's probably some paperwork involved, and he's really leaving it to the last minute.

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burntorangebongos

burntorangebongos 10,747

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21 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

So, just from a practical standpoint, why would he have not pardoned his stupid kids?  You know DAMN well they have committed federal crimes, with regards to campaign finance stuff alone.

This is interesting. If he pardons his children, he'd have to name the time frame. This could put him in jeopardy because the NY State Ag can sniff around and find more on them or hone in because a pardon is an admission of wrong doing. If he does pardon them, they are free to flip to save themselves. He is really caught in a hard place. 

Another thought, what is to stop him from secret pardons that can be get out of jail cards when needed, at least temporarily? Pardon the Tiger King so no one asks about secret pardons for him and his kids.

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burntorangebongos

burntorangebongos 10,747

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Per the Hill article dated 5 days ago, sorry can't link. Article II, section 2 merely says a president shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardon offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. It contains no other restrictions on his pardoning power. None.

Edited by burntorangebongos
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PenelopeWitherspoon

PenelopeWitherspoon 19,120

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4 minutes ago, TXSG8R said:

8AM tomorrow.  Giving the WH staff 5 hours to prep it for Biden moving in.  Asshole to the very end.  

Even leaving at 8 AM tomorrow, they were supposed to release the pardons/commutations today.  And there are supposed to be about 100.  So why has nothing come out yet?

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TXSG8R

TXSG8R 3,362

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Just now, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Even leaving at 8 AM tomorrow, they were supposed to release the pardons/commutations today.  And there are supposed to be about 100.  So why has nothing come out yet?

I was answering Biff's question.  In theory, he could sit on the pardons until right before the inauguration.  He has the power as long as he is president.  The later they come out, the worse I expect them to be.  

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Haphap

Haphap 741

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2 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Even leaving at 8 AM tomorrow, they were supposed to release the pardons/commutations today.  And there are supposed to be about 100.  So why has nothing come out yet?

the e-transfer has not come through yet

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Posted (edited)

“Dude, I was totally gonna pardon you but my account was jammed up in my phone. Probably part of the social media shutdown.  Plus the wi-fi was for shit in any plane not called AF1.   I’ll get you on the rebound okay?”

Edited by Lobo
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Lou

Lou 264

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1 hour ago, burntorangebongos said:

He is a TV president building anticipation for ratings. He is waiting for the evening news or tomorrow. He wants attention when it is going to be Biden's day. This would be a good way to get it.

I agree.  I think he is such a shit head he will do something to try to occupy the news tomorrow.

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SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10,958

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

Is there some delivery requirement for a pardon?  I'm thinking of something akin to the requirement that the commission be delivered in Marbury v. Madison.

It just seems to me that there's probably some paperwork involved, and he's really leaving it to the last minute.

Didn't the end result in Marbury v Madison end up with Marbury still not getting his commission? It's been a minute since ConLaw.

Edited by SimonBolivar
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