Pardons and Commutations
Donald Trump has used his pardon power often since his second term in office began. His pardon power may have affected more people than any president other than Jimmy Carter – and that’s just because Carter pardoned every draft dodger with one act.
Trump pardoned every January 6th defendant – a move which we opposed. He should have reviewed those pardons on a case-by-case basis to ensure the safety of our fellow citizens. Now he has commuted the sentence of former Congressman George Santos. That’s another move that seems wrong on its face.
George Santos, a.k.a Anthony Devolder, a.k.a George Devolder, is still a mystery to us. He may have been born in Brazil, or possibly Queens, NY. He has stated both. He also claimed to be Jewish. He said that his mother died in the 9/11 attacks – another lie. He later amended his statement and claimed his mother died of 9/11 related cancer – likely another lie. We lost plenty of friends that day, and many in the years afterwards. Santos’ claims are abhorrent and an affront to the families who still suffer the pain of their loss.
And that is just his lies. He also committed several crimes. He defrauded the Republican Party, stole money, misappropriated public funds, committed unemployment fraud, identity theft, and most importantly betrayed the trust of the voters of NY Congressional District 3. He also borrowed money from multiple people under false pretenses and never paid them back – often a grey area of criminal law, but certainly wrong.
You could argue that eight years is a heavy sentence for Santos – we tend to agree. But Trump commuted his sentence after he served just 3 months. More importantly, Trump absolved him of the money he owed to victims. That is simply wrong.
We have not heard the last of George Santos. He is a fraudster. In my time working financial crimes we often investigated perps of his ilk. Perps that were not just committing crimes but were actually living a lie and committing crimes to support their fictitious persona. I believe he is incapable of living within the law. I have little doubt that he will turn to new schemes to enrich himself at the expense of others.
It seems like President Trump, who we usually support, has not learned his lesson from the mass amnesty given to January 6th defendants. In the past year, several of them have been arrested again. For example:
Andrew Taake was arrested on a warrant for soliciting a minor…
Emily Hernandez was convicted of killing someone in a drunk driving incident…
David Daniel was arrested for possessing child porn…
Daniel Charles Ball was arrested on a gun possession charge…
Shane Woods was convicted of reckless homicide…
Taylor Taranto was convicted of threatening to blow up federal buildings…
Edward Kelley was convicted of plotting to kill FBI agents…
Zachary Alam was arrested for burglary…
And most recently, Christopher Moynihan was arrested for threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies.
Not a good look for the strongest law and order president of our time.
Now, we recognize the distinction between those who stormed the Capitol building with ill-intent, and those protestors who simply turned up for a demonstration and were (in some cases) literally escorted inside by Capitol Police. Others were ultimately investigated and arrested by the FBI for having their foot on the Capitol building steps.
If you were among the latter — you deserved a pardon. But storm the building? Steal Pelosi’s laptop? Blow through police barricades? You should go to jail. And serve your sentence.
We don’t know what category those arrested since were in. But if the distinction had been made, when it came time for the pardons, between those who stormed the Capitol and those who just turned up to demonstrate peacefully: the talking point wouldn’t be there.
And by the way: if George Santos deserves jail — and we believe he does — so does Elizabeth Warren. Whose masquerade as a Native American was the foundation of her entire career.
Run Curtis Run
There are numerous highly respected New York Republican voices coming out this week calling for Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the NYC Mayoral race. Even Donald Trump has gotten on the bandwagon, stating “if he dropped out, maybe Cuomo would have a little bit of a chance”. This “devil you know” argument is shortsighted, and we must disagree with this tactic.
Curtis Sliwa is the duly elected Republican nominee. Cuomo is a lifelong Democrat who paid for his lazy and lackluster primary run by getting his clock cleaned by a communist. Cuomo is not a moderate – he did more to damage New York City than even Bill DiBlasio. His COVID errors were egregious, but his shady criminal justice reform law was downright criminal.
And it’s not a lock, or even a good chance, that Cuomo wins if Sliwa bails. Cuomo, who appeared half-asleep in last week’s debate, seems to have little ability to bolster his poll numbers at this point in his political career.
If Curtis stays in, there is a benefit. He is the candidate of honesty and normalcy – and he is a registered Republican. There is a whole generation of New York City voters who have never pulled the lever for a Republican in their entire lives. Some of them would vote for Sliwa. Many more would at least strongly consider him.
The NYC Republican Party is essentially irrelevant at this point. Mike Bloomberg won as a Republican in 2005 (and he was a lifelong Democrat), but since then the party hasn’t been able to top 28% in a mayoral election. They are a nonstarter as a political movement in this town. They need to move the needle, and this election could be a start.
The NYC Democrat Party has essentially lost its mind. It is a party of socialists, corruption, and waste. Traditional Democrat voters (and sane people) can’t possibly take much more of this. Many also don’t want to pull the lever for another career politician with Cuomo’s substantial baggage. His whole act is as tired as he is.
Traditional Democrats can look to Sliwa as a viable option – even as a Republican. They need to wrap their heads around the fact that a Republican candidate is a good choice. That would give the party some legitimacy going forward and pull some voters into the Republican Party.
When and if Mamdani wins, the next four years will go spectacularly – spectacularly bad. Voters will be ready for a change in 2029. The Republican Party can spend that time finding a quality candidate that all New Yorkers can get behind. We could have another administration like Guiliani’s, which was a sea change for this city. It would get New York back on the right track – and that is a win for the entire country.
Stay in the race Curtis – and hope for a bright future for the Big Apple.
Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!
Why hasn’t Trump pardoned John Kiriakou?
Interesting that former congressman Santos casted his votes 99% with his republican colleagues.
Just saying.