An 'influential' Palm Beach eye doctor is reportedly on Trump's clemency list
President Trump plans to spend his final days in office issuing about 100 pardons and commutations, according to CNN. It's not clear yet who will get a pardon, but "the expectation among allies is that Trump will issue pardons that he could benefit from post presidency," CNN reports. The final list apparently includes "white collar criminals, high-profile rappers, and others but — as of now — is not expected to include Trump himself."
One name expected to be on Trump's clemency list is Dr. Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor in Palm Beach, Florida, sentenced to 17 years in prison for health-care fraud. CNN reports some Trump allies were surprised to see Melgen's name on the list, but notes that "Melgen is seen as a wealthy and influential figure in south Florida," where Trump apparently plans to live after leaving Washington.
"Everything is a transaction," one source told CNN. "He likes pardons because it is unilateral. And he likes doing favors for people he thinks will owe him."
About 14,000 people have filed petitions for clemency from Trump, according to The Washington Post, and he has been "besieged" by lawyers from wealthy clients who are seeking a clean slate, as well as advocates for criminal justice reform who say their clients were wrongfully convicted.
Trump has granted clemency to 94 people throughout his presidency, most of whom were "friends and political allies," including his former campaign chair Paul Manafort, his confidant Roger Stone, and Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.