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Donald Trump left his four-year reign in the White House in disgrace after losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. In the days leading to Jan.19, news outlets speculated whether the former president would used his pardoning powers to save himself and his friends from federal prosecution.  As it turned out he had his own agenda in mind.

On the eve of the Inauguration, he released a batch of 73 pardons and 70 communications that touched a wide-range of criminals, friends, supporters, and random convicts in his final act as a defiant leader.  

While the list is insanely long, it’s important to know that the chosen few had cases championed by criminal justice reform advocates and often had lengthy sentences for low-level offenses.  It’s why Lil Wayne, Kodak Black, Steve Bannon, and Kwame Kilpatrick made the list. 

Was Weezy’s bizarre visit to Trump in October a move to advocate for a pardon? If so, it was a smart gamble. Back in 2019, the convicted felon was found in possession of the gold-plated handgun at a Miami airport.  After a guilty plea, he was due to appear in court for a sentencing hearing later this month that could have landed him behind bars for a couple of years.  The pardon cleared that off for good.

The President’s pardon is a golden ticket to freedom. In Trump’s case, it also served as a middle finger to his foes and the unworthy. It’s his style, after all.   

We noticed a few names that should have made the list. Check it out and let us know if we missed anyone.

13 People Who Didn’t Get A Pardon From Donald Trump  was originally published on hiphopwired.com

1. None of the Insurrectionists

If you were to ask any of the domestic terrorists why they stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, there’s a high probability they’d say Donald Trump invited them.  Their delusional belief in patriotic duty to overturn the 2020 Presidental election resulted in five deaths, including one involving a police officer’s brutal beating with a fire extinguisher and flag pole.  The mess.

Anyway, since they all uploaded the self-incriminating evidence on their very public social media profiles, FBI agents have had an easier time hunting them down and slapping them with federal charges.  We lost count when the arrest counts reached over 100 people– it’s still rising, by the way.

2. C-Murder

C-Murder has maintained his innocence since he was accused of fatally shooting someone at a nightclub in 2002. He’s currently serving a life sentence in Louisiana State Penitentiary after being convicted of second-degree murder in 2009, even though two key eyewitnesses recanted their testimony that pinned him to crime.    

In April 2020, Kim Kardashian made headlines after she promised to work with singer Monica to help release him from prison. Remember, she used her celebrity power to butter up Donald Trump whenever she wanted to commute first-time nonviolent offenders’ life sentences.

 It didn’t work, though.  

This would have been the perfect chance to redeem himself and show the No Limit O.G. some love, but clearly, he wasn’t interested.  We suspect it has everything to do with Kim voting for Biden during the presidential election.  Trump is petty like that.

3. Max B

Two people definitely don’t mess with Max B: Jim Jones and Donald Trump.   We know Capo has a personal beef with him, but we can’t put the finger on what the deal is with 45.

Max has been behind bars since 2009 after a conviction for his role in a 2006 robbery-homicide.  The victim was killed execution-style. He was convicted of nine counts of conspiracy, murder, and robbery, nailing the rapper with 75 years behind bars.  That hasn’t stopped the rapper from keeping hope alive.

Over the years, the Harlem MC has had his sentence reduced from 20 years to 12, making a potential release date in 2021.  Apparently, he’s been working on a mixtape since last year slated for release sometime this year, so no sweat on the oversight. 

What would have been wavy was to have Trump pardon him altogether.   Where’s the love for Wavy Crockett, yo?

4. Ghislaine Maxwell

Back in the day, Donald Trump ran heavily in the streets with almost convicted, now deceased child trafficker Jefferey Epstein.  Their bromance dated as far back as the late ‘80s with photographs and video footage detailing their high-society partying.  “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump said in a 2002 interview with New York magazine.”He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”  As we said, they had a lot in common.

They were bold enough to invite their spouses, future First Lady Melania and Epstein’s longtime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, for fun.  Surprisingly, Maxwell was lock-in-step with her boo and his sex-craved activities that involved seducing young teenage girls and turning them into sex slaves for the elite.  He got super sloppy and had his New York residence raided by the FBI, where they found hundreds of nude photos of girls and young women locked away in a safe. They also discovered documents and files that contained names and contact information of victims and his disgusting inner circle involved in the ring.  Even Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s son, was named in the crimes. Once Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York, he died in police custody of “suicide.” 

The FBI realized Maxwell was heavily involved in Epstein’s ring and arrested last July for charges related to the salacious crime. 

 Was Trump on Epstein’s list?  We’ll never know, but Maxwell, who was seen in plenty of images with Trump, can name the disgraced president if she decides to talk.  This would have been the perfect time to pardon her to avoid charges.  Why he decided to forgo the opportunity is mind-boggling.  Perhaps he’s confident the evidence doesn’t point to him.  Either way, he dropped the ball to avoid future problems.   Only time will tell now.

5. Edward Snowden

Exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden is still hiding in Russia after leaking highly classified information about global surveillance programs from the NSA in 2013 while working as a CIA officer.  Though he’s found a livable balance while staying in Vladimir Putin’s backyard, the United States still has him high on their most wanted list, hoping he’ll one day slip up and grant the chance for legal retribution.  

You’d think Trump would be sympathetic to a fellow troubled soul dealing with espionage, but he’s not.  Honestly, the only difference between them was one formally charged, and the other recently ended his presidency unscathed. 

For the longest, Trump has been suspected of colluding with Russia and damn near accused of being a spy for them. And right at the start of his presidency, he was meeting with suspicious Russian officials. He was discovered to have used their support in interfering in the 2016 election to win over Hillary Clinton.  We’ve yet uncovered what his dealings were with Russia.  He’s a whole spy, allegedly.

Anyway, Trump
was rumored to have considered Snowden’s pardon, but clearly, that didn’t happen.   He decided to free his ugly friend Steve Bannon instead.

6. Suge Knight

Unethical boss to unethical boss, you’d think Trump would appreciate Suge Knight’s style and help him out with his prison sentence, but, nope. 

Trump operated his business as if he were a mob boss. On the other hand, Suge Knight was a menace in the music industry and found an insane happy place whenever he applied pressure during his active time as head of Death Row Records.  

That’s not why he’s is currently serving 28 years in federal prison. In 2015 during the filming of “Straight Outta Compton,” Knight got into a disagreement with a rival hired as a consultant on the film. Surveillance video shows the former music executive backing his car into the man, then drive it forward into another man, who later died of his injuries.  He was charged with manslaughter, which usually carries an 11-year sentence. Because Knight had prior felonies, California’s three-strike law automatically doubled his time and tacked on an additional six years. 

Needless to say, Suge could have used some of Trump’s help.  Best of luck, though.

7. Joe Exotic

In prison, Joe Exotic is serving a 22-year sentence for participating in a murder-for-hire plot to kill longtime nemesis Carole Baskin and for violating a slew of wildlife laws. The beloved star of Netflix’s “Tiger King” thought he had an ally in Trump and felt compelled to write his president a heartfelt letter begging for a pardon.

“If I have ever looked up to anyone, it would be you,” he wrote in a handwritten letter to Trump. “Not because I need you to save my life, but because you stand for what you believe no matter what anyone thinks … I am begging you to listen to the millions who see the truth… Allow me to make you proud, to make America proud, to make the world proud. Be my hero, please.”

If you can tell, Joe voted for him during the 2016 election.  At one point, Trump said during a press conference that he would “take a look” at his case.   Once Joe heard that he was certain he’d be out of prison.

Reporters found surveillance footage of a stretch limo parked outside of Joe’s lawyer’s office in anticipation of receiving a phone call from The White House that would confirm his pardon.  The call never came.  Joe is still in prison.  Needless to say, ya boy was big mad when he realized he didn’t make the pardon list. 

Why did Trump do his supporter like that?

8. G Herbo

Chicago rapper G Herbo and four associates were busted in December for using stolen credit cards to fund his lavish lifestyle of private jets, limo rides, and designer dogs. 

According to PageSix, he and his buddies obtained the information from the dark web and chartered a yacht, bought exotic cards, and hired a personal chef. They also used a private jet to fly from Chicago to Austin, Texas, and a private villa in Jamaica.  He’s charged with 14 counts of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

A few weeks after the arrest, his longtime girlfriend Taina announced that she is pregnant with his child. In an Instagram photo of the two posing with her pregnant belly, she wrote: “Sometimes the greatest things in life are worth hiding for a bigger sacrifice,” she captioned on the post. “Happiness is an understatement for the joy that we feel and the light that you’ve already brung upon us. God knows I prayed for you.”

“The journey is never easy but the story is always amazing to tell… this feeling is indescribable,” she continued. “You were made with so much love no one else will ever know the strength of my love for you already. 2020 was hard, but you gave me hope for 2021. We love you & cannot wait to meet you my sweet baby.”

There’s no telling if Herbo will make it out of his legal issues before the baby is born, which is why Trump’s help would have come in handy.   

We’re guessing 45 isn’t a fan of his. 

9. Bobby Shmurda

Trump may know who Bobby Shmurda is (he freed Kodak Black, remember?), but pardoning him so he could come home early wasn’t in the cards for the Brooklyn rapper.  

Bobby has been in prison since 2016 for conspiracy to possess a weapon and possession of a weapon.  While the 26-year-old never snitched on his comrades to help his cause, he’s made headlines over the years announcing potential early release dates that never materialized.  

This time maybe for real, though.  TMZ reports that he’ll be a free man by next month. If true, who needs a Trump pardon?   If not, well, he’s stuck serving 10 more months at New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility.

10. Michael Cohen

Donald Trump was moving like a goon for years thanks to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen. From 2006-2018 he served as vice president of the Trump organization, whose sole job description was to act as a “fixer” for all of his boss’s indiscretions and business moves. 

The relationship reached troubled waters in 2018 after a special investigation uncovered his actions in Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. After he pled guilty to campaign violations, tax fraud, and bank fraud, the disgraced lawyer was sentenced to three years in federal prison and was immediately disbarred in New York.   

In the same year, Cohen broke street code and snitched about all the unsavory dealings during his time as Trump’s fixer, one of which was leaked secret audio recordings surrounding the scandal on pornstar Stormy Daniels.  

He’s persona non grata in Trump’s camp now. He is serving the rest of his three-year sentence in home confinement after being released from federal prison due to coronavirus concerns.  With no other means to make money and clear his name, Cohen is selling a tell-all book that chronicles the “sins and crimes” during his tenure under the former President’s reign.

“From golden showers in a sex club in [Las] Vegas to tax fraud, to deals with corrupt officials from the former Soviet Union, to catch and kill conspiracies to silence Trump’s clandestine lovers, I wasn’t just a witness to the president’s rise – I was an active and eager participant,” Cohen writes in the book.

To make matters worse, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is launching an investigation against Trump, claiming the disgraced president committed financial fraud. They believe Trump ordered Cohen to “issue illegal hush payments on his behalf to a couple of his alleged extramarital lovers before the 2016 election,” the NY Daily News reports. 

Bruh.  Now, if this isn’t more of a reason to shut this man up about his business, what is?  

11. Rudy Giuliani

Ask an OG from New York City if they like Rudolph “Rudy” Giuliani, and they will more than likely give you a two-word answer: Hell nah.   Back in the day, he was a very ambitious federal prosecutor who grew prestige for his role of dismantling the “Five Families,” the network of five Italian mafia organizations that ran the city in the 70s and 80s.  By slapping the heads of the Five Families with RICO charges and convicting them with 100-year sentences, Rudy set his eyes for politics to be mayor of New York City. 

Over 30 years later, Rudy is now a pitiful shell of himself. The once fearless prosecutor now operates on the beck and call of Donald Trump and his laundry list of unethical business practices. Their decade’s long relationship, which dates around the time of his Five Families case, has served their ambitions selfishly, leading to their present-day detriment.   Remember that Russian election interference case? Well, Rudy served as Trump’s lawyer, and you see how that turned out.

These days, Giuliani’s future in law hangs in peril after making false claims about election fraud and failing to produce evidence to support the accusations. It was embarrassing how many cases he lost trying to overturn the election.  During the Insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, he was quoted saying the domestic terrorists’ attack was a “trial by combat,” giving the New York supreme court ammunition to disbar him from legal practice.

With a longstanding relationship like that, Trump should have helped his friend avoid any incoming smoke from the Feds. Instead, he instructed his team not to pay Rudy’s legal fees. No word on what’s happening in Trump’s legal camp, but we imagine the pitiful prosecutor was left out in the cold, alone, with his dripping hair dye falling on the side of his face.   Pathetic.

12. Trump’s Family

Trump wasn’t destroying the country by himself during his time in the White House. It was a family affair involving three of his five children (Ivanka, Eric, Donald Jr.) and their complicit spouses as if it were one of his businesses.  Their unethical reign in politics has resulted in some of the worst policies and horrific moments in modern American history.  

While all of their sheisty dealings are wrapped in secrecy, some things have surfaced in the public eye without much fodder.  For instance, it was discovered that Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, stealthily created a shell company whose purpose was to funnel money from Trump’s campaign fund directly to their personal pockets. It listed family and close friends as employees to secure the bag without breaking the law.  Vanity Fair reports that they spent nearly half of Trump’s $1.26 billion campaign fund.  Ain’t that a form of scamming?

His son, Donald Jr., had a heavy role in sabotaging the 2016 election after discovering he met with Russian officials at Trump Tower about damaging information on Hillary Clinton’s campaign. 

Just two days into the leadership change was discovered that the Biden administration inherited a “non-existent” vaccination plan, so imagine what’s to come in the next couple of months.     

We’ve yet to see the fallout of what else they’ve done behind the scenes for the last four years. It begs the question why Trump didn’t pardon his family for safety measures?

13. Himself

It’s a wonder why Trump didn’t pardon himself. While sitting as President of the United States– he was practically untouchable in the court of law. Now that he’s a private citizen, he’s at risk of catching some charges. 

MSN reports that a self-pardon would squash federal prosecution efforts, but state-level ones were fair game. If prosecutors caught wind of anything, it might have encouraged them to get him on charges related to his scamming business practices. 

New York Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James is patiently waiting in the wings for the opportunity to come for Trump. 

“Last year, after Michael Cohen’s testimony, our office opened an investigation into the financial dealings of the Trump Organization,” James said in a recent press release via Essence. “That investigation continues today,” she added. “Unlike the president and [his] unfounded accusations…we are guided by the facts and the law, and the politics stop at the door. Period.”

 Trump is also said to be in deep financial trouble, like owing more than $1 billion in debut kind of trouble. Forbes broke down his finances in detail and discovered he’s due to pay $162 million as soon as September 2021 and $285 million by November 2022.  No wonder he was in the White House being a dirtbag.  Ya boy was desperately trying to pay the bills on time.  

Let’s not gloss over the Ghislaine Maxwell case that has a high probability of linking him to sex trafficking charges. It’s not a far-fetched theory that just last week, before leaving The White House, he tried to avoid court for a rape charge launched by a former Elle magazine columnist.  His single defense: “She’s not my type.”  It’s a wild story.

A person in that type of predicament is liable to make unsound decisions to get from under pressure.  We’re making an educated guess that he got dirt on his hands. That said, it was in his best interest to pardon himself to, at least, avoid potential jail time down the line.  

After all, innocent people don’t pardon themselves and he’s anything but innocent in the court of public opinion.

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