'Most corrupt president ever': Melanie D'Arrigo accuses Donald Trump of 'selling pardons'

Democratic politician Melanie D'Arrigo criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for being the "most corrupt" president ever on Monday. In a social media post, she accused the Trump administration of selling pardons for up to $6 million each, as she shared a report by The Atlantic about the White House considering handing out 250 pardons for the nation's 250th birthday. "Now he may sell another 250 and pretend his open call for bribes and corruption is in celebration of our nation," she wrote.

As per the report, 14 people familiar with the matter said the White House wanted to make presidential pardons a crucial part of the nation's 250th celebrations over the Fourth of July weekend. The idea was called "250 pardons for 250 years." No proposal has yet been sent to the President, with advisers split on whether the move would have a positive impact on voters only a few months ahead of the midterm elections.

Those in support of the plan have said that it would help the President cultivate a merciful image of himself. Trump has already pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly 1,600 people associated with the Capitol riot on January 6 since returning to power. Such a wave of mass pardons has reportedly led to intense lobbying and dealmaking among those seeking respite from the past crimes they might have committed.

Five current and former administration officials and nine private-sector individuals with ties to the President's circle confirmed the frenzy to the publication. One criminal-defense attorney called it "a three-ring circus," while a former government official said that the whole thing was "bats**t crazy." The previous Trump administration had also pardoned people, but as per a former Trump associate, no efforts were being made this time to keep certain plans under wraps. As far as D'Arrigo's claim of the administration accepting fees for pardons is concerned, one defense attorney said that it was indeed the case, though the numbers differed.

"It is general knowledge in our practice that for $2 million, you can have a pardon," they said. "The clients come to us and tell us, 'I've been told I need to go hire this specific person, and [then] I will get a pardon.'" Another attorney alleged that there were talks with "very rich, well-placed individuals" from India, Greece, Turkey, and France, all of whom were told that their cases were under consideration. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Trump found it "detestable that anyone would even attempt to profit off pardons."

The Atlantic report also states that the nation's first "pardon czar," Alice Johnson, and the Department of Justice pardon attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. were big supporters of the 250 pardons plan. Among those in line to be potentially pardoned are the Malaysian fugitive Low Taek Jho, wanted for his alleged role in an international financial-fraud scheme, Pras Michel, convicted of conspiring with Jho, and Nicole Daedone, who was sentenced to nine years for her role in a forced labour conspiracy.