Published on: Wednesday, January 20, 2021

In a Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency released after midnight, outgoing President Trump granted 73 pardons and 70 commutations (article available here). The list includes his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who was indicted for allegedly defrauding hundreds of thousands of people in an online campaign to raise funds for a southern border wall — one of dozens of acts of clemency in the final hours of his administration.

No members of the president's family — including Mr. Trump himself — were on the list.

The president's pardon powers are virtually unlimited when it comes to federal crimes. The presidential pardon power allows the president to pardon anyone charged with or convicted of a federal crime — it does not apply to state crimes. Article II of the Constitution states that the president "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." 

Update: Archived statement available here.