Liz Oyer: Donald Trump Has Turned the Pardon Process Into ‘Something Akin to the Hunger Games’

RUSH EXCERPT:

OYER: “Yeah, the way it’s supposed to work is people submit an application to the Justice Department, the office of the pardon attorney, which is historically a nonpartisan, nonpolitical office, vets the applications consistent with a long standing set of criteria. We do a. we did when I was leading it, a rigorous investigation of the applicants to see if they truly had demonstrated that they were deserving based on the merit, based on things like rehabilitation and good conduct in the community over a lengthy period of time. And then we would make recommendations that would go up to the president for for the president’s ultimate decision, there was a rigorous vetting process and criteria that were consistently applied. All of that has now gone out the window, and Donald Trump has essentially turned this into something akin to the hunger games. I mean, he’s created a situation where people are are ponying up huge amounts of money. They’re leveraging political connections. They’re hiring well-connected lobbyists. People in Trump’s inner circle are making exorbitant sums of money, promising the possibility of pardons. And it”