Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Sunday that President Trump’s political allies are getting a clear message from the president’s recent pardons.
“I don’t know if he is trying to send a message, but they are clearly getting a message,” Bharara said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“He’s making it very clear he is prepared to pardon anyone for any reason without any review. It was suggested that he reviewed the case — I don’t think Donald Trump did anything of the sort.”
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Bharara was referring to Trump’s move on Thursday to pardon conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza. D’Souza pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws in 2014 and is serving five years probation for the crime, which is a felony.
Trump also said Friday that he was considering pardoning TV personality Martha Stewart and commuting former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s (D) prison sentence. Both have ties to Trump’s “The Apprentice” reality series.
“He decides in the moment to take a political action, and that is what he did in this case,” Bharara, who was fired by Trump last year, said on Sunday. “I think he is going to keep doing it.”
Some, including former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, have speculated that Trump’s pardons are a signal to special counsel Robert Mueller.
“Indict people for crimes that don’t pertain to Russian collusion and this is what could happen,” Stone told The Washington Post of Trump’s pardon of D’Souza.
“The special counsel has awesome powers, as you know, but the president has even more awesome powers,” Stone added.
Other Trump surrogates have disputed that characterization. Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said on “Fox News Sunday” that Trump’s pardon of D’Souza “is not a sign,” instead dubbing it a “one-off opportunity.”