Michele Fiore, a local elected official and ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, was convicted of charity fraud in October 2024.
asserted
Fiore → elect → October
A federal jury in Las Vegas found that she solicited donations for a slain police officer’s memorial and spent nearly $80,000 of it on plastic surgery, her daughter’s wedding and rent.
asserted
she → find → surgery
The jury deliberated for fewer than two hours, including a lunch break, before finding Fiore guilty on seven charges brought by the Department of Justice.
asserted
Fiore → deliberate → Justice
Weeks before she was to be sentenced, Trump granted Fiore “a full and unconditional pardon,” sparing her the prospect of decades in prison, payment of criminal fines, and any restitution to donors whose funds she misspent.
asserted
she → sentence → funds
In a statement at the time, a White House spokesperson noted Fiore’s support for the president and said that Biden-era prosecutors had targeted the politician, known in Nevada as “Lady Trump,” because of “outspoken conservative views.”
asserted
prosecutors → note → views
In an email to Reuters, Fiore criticized prosecutors and witnesses and maintained her innocence.
asserted
Fiore → criticize → innocence
“I have never taken one red cent of donations for my personal use,” she wrote.
asserted
she → take → use
She declined to answer detailed questions about her career, case and conviction.
asserted
She → decline → career
Fiore is one of at least 85 public officials granted clemency by Trump after charges or convictions related to corruption, according to the first comprehensive examination of such measures over the president’s two terms in office so far.
uncertain
Fiore → grant → office
The Reuters review shows that the political impetus behind Fiore’s pardon wasn’t an outlier: The recipients of Trump’s clemency for public officials overwhelmingly have been fellow Republicans or vocal proponents of his MAGA movement.
asserted
recipients → show → movement
They include at least 11 of 15 Republican members of Congress convicted of wrongdoing over the past two decades.
asserted
They → include → decades
Of the 85 public officials identified in Reuters’ analysis, 36 were elected as Republicans and another 19 were Republicans appointed to political office.
asserted
19 → identify → office
Nine others had either campaigned for Trump or publicly espoused support for his agenda.
asserted
others → campaign → agenda
Only four were known Democrats, including one Texas congressman whom Trump erroneously believed would switch parties after the pardon.
asserted
Trump → know → pardon
The news agency couldn’t determine partisan affiliation for the 17 other officials.
asserted
agency → determine → officials
Trump’s repeated acts of clemency for public officials charged with or convicted of corruption-related crimes have led to what more than a dozen current and former prosecutors, along with other legal experts and political researchers, say is impunity for people meant to uphold the public trust.
asserted
prosecutors → repeat → trust
The impunity, these people said, can encourage more wrongdoing by other officials, eroding the foundational democratic concept that no one, no matter what office they hold, is above the law.
asserted
they → say → law
The problem, they added, is compounded if the concept of clemency is tainted by perceptions of partisan or personal bias.
asserted
concept → add → bias
“President Trump is trying to end accountability for public officials,” said Phillip Halpern, a retired assistant US attorney in San Diego who prosecuted two Republican congressmen Trump later pardoned.
asserted
Trump → try → congressmen
“He’s setting a standard to encourage corruption and allow it to flourish.”
asserted
it → set → corruption
Trump’s absolution has allowed nearly three-quarters of the 85 officials in Reuters’ analysis to leave prison early, evade trials or sentencing, or regain eligibility to exercise certain freedoms, like owning a gun.
asserted
quarters → allow → gun
In total, the analysis found, these people were spared 130 years behind bars and avoided payment of more than $15 million in financial penalties.
asserted
people → find → penalties
More than half of the recipients have remained in politics either as public officials or as vocal supporters of Trump and his agenda.
asserted
half → remain → Trump
That includes Fiore, who isn’t working but is still earning a government salary as a Nevada county justice of the peace.
asserted
who → include → peace
Noting his own indictments by federal prosecutors during the presidency of Joe Biden, Trump has said he aims to right wrongs by a DOJ that he has claimed – repeatedly and without evidence – targeted innocent people for partisan purposes.
asserted
he → note → purposes
“I am your warrior,” he told a conservative gathering in 2023, while campaigning for re-election.
asserted
he → tell → election
And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”
asserted
I → wrong → those
Administration officials have repeatedly defended the president’s use of the pardon power, granted by the Constitution and ample in scope.
asserted
officials → defend → scope
Lauren Bis, a White House spokesperson, in a statement said Trump grants clemency for “many Americans unjustly prosecuted by the Biden administration’s weaponized Department of Justice.”
asserted
Trump → say → Justice
Reuters’ review encompassed clemency recipients who held an elected or appointed government role or were employed in the civil or uniformed services.
asserted
who → encompass → services
Most were paid from government coffers.
asserted
Most → pay → coffers
Recipients included seven advisors to Trump, three DOJ officials, three governors, 10 state lawmakers, two city council members, two judges and two sheriffs.
asserted
Recipients → include → Trump
Their charges and crimes included fraud, bribery, conspiracy, racketeering, obstruction of justice and others.
asserted
charges → include → justice
Reuters’ tally of public officials doesn’t include at least 18 active-duty military, police and government employees who were among those charged with or convicted for storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
asserted
who → include → January
Before Trump issued his blanket clemency for the roughly 1,500 people involved in the riot, many of these 18 had used their official credentials to rally others against the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election.
asserted
many → issue → election
Some of Trump’s predecessors have also drawn fire for controversial use of the pardon power, most recently Biden because of clemency for his son, Hunter, convicted on federal gun and tax charges.
asserted
Some → draw → charges
Both Biden and former President Barack Obama commuted more prison sentences than Trump, cutting short the punishments of many non-violent drug offenders.
asserted
Biden → commute → offenders
But over his nearly six years in office so far, Trump has granted far more pardons than any other recent president, particularly through his mass clemency for the Capitol rioters.
asserted
Trump → grant → rioters
Earlier this year, Reuters examined the president’s upending of the pardon process.
asserted
Reuters → examine → process
In nearly 2,000 acts of clemency, Trump has forgone longstanding practice of presidents working with the DOJ to evaluate who should merit clemency.
asserted
who → forgo → clemency
…and 97 more, not listed.
The Aporia
