{"id":1652,"date":"2026-06-11T11:08:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652"},"modified":"2026-06-11T11:08:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:08:01","slug":"forget-the-doj-for-a-trump-pardon-call-bobby-and-other-influencers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652","title":{"rendered":"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div>WASHINGTON &#8211; Days before granting him a pardon in March of last year, President Donald Trump phoned Trevor Milton, an electric-vehicle entrepreneur and Republican donor who was convicted of defrauding investors of more than $660 million. <\/div><div>The president, according to previously unreported details of the conversation reviewed by Reuters, told Milton that high-profile advisors convinced Trump that Milton had been unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department of President Joe Biden. Among those who put in a good word, Trump said, was U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/div><div>Milton\u2019s treatment was unjust, Trump said, and similar to his own targeting by federal investigators around the same time. \u201cYou had a lot of support,\u201d Trump told Milton. \u201cBobby Kennedy. You have to call Bobby and thank him.\u201d <\/div><div>In an emailed statement, Milton didn\u2019t answer questions from Reuters about the exchange with the president or any support he received from Kennedy or others. The Department of Health and Human Services, where Kennedy is serving as secretary, didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment on this report. <\/div><div>Trump\u2019s reference to \u201cBobby\u201d is emblematic of how the president has upended the pardon process in his second administration, discarding over a century of protocol overseen by the Justice Department, or DOJ. Today, winning a pardon or other grant of presidential clemency routinely hinges upon an informal and highly personalized network of influencers and advocates appealing to Trump himself, according to a Reuters analysis of pardon, lobbying, and electoral records, as well as interviews with over 80 people familiar with clemency decisions during the president\u2019s current term. <\/div><div>Pardon applicants once had to comply with longstanding DOJ guidelines, such as a five-year wait after conviction or demonstrated remorse for their crimes. Reuters\u2019 analysis shows that under Trump, clemency now is far more dependent upon access to his inner circle. That access, Reuters found, is enhanced when an applicant can craft a narrative that resonates with the president\u2019s own sense of victimization, a sentiment he has regularly expressed since being indicted twice by federal prosecutors during his four years outside the White House.<\/div><div>Reuters reviewed thousands of records to document a cast of characters involved in pardons or commutations granted by Trump since he returned to the presidency. Using public databases and artificial intelligence to help search, compile and analyze the records, reporters identified many of the recipients, their advocates and Trump administration insiders involved in clemency for more than 1,700 people since January 2025. The review found:<\/div><div><ul><\/ul><\/div><div>Stone and Stanton King each acknowledged to Reuters their role in advocating for pardon recipients. Stone said he received no money for his services; Stanton King declined to say how much she was paid. Tolman, the Utah attorney, didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment. <\/div><div>\u201cThe constitutional authority to issue pardons and commutations rests solely with the president,\u201d Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, wrote in a statement. \u201cThe White House has a rigorous pardon review process which includes the White House counsel, the Department of Justice, and ultimately the president.\u201d<\/div><div>The statement didn\u2019t answer Reuters\u2019 questions about the president\u2019s call with Milton or the role of Kennedy or other specific administration officials in clemency decisions. <\/div><div>In a separate statement, a DOJ spokesperson wrote that it plays \u201ca key role in assisting the president with exercising his constitutional authority.\u201d The department continues \u201cto make recommendations to the president that are consistent, unbiased, and uphold the rule of law. There has been no departure from this long-standing process.\u201d <\/div><div>Trump\u2019s new pardon protocols, and the privileged access that has come to define them, have sparked coverage in the media and uproar among legal experts, traditionalists at the DOJ, and victims of some of the pardoned offenders. Even some of Trump\u2019s top aides, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, have pressed for a pause in clemency ahead of the midterm elections, fearing further criticism could harm Republican chances, according to three people familiar with discussions over the matter. <\/div><div>A White House official who declined to be identified disputed the assertion that Wiles has argued for a slowdown in pardons. <\/div><div>The Reuters review is the first to measure the scale of the influencer network and identify the repeat roles that some of these advocates are playing. Because most of the advocacy isn\u2019t officially reported to government regulators, the news agency was unable to identify every single person involved in each act of clemency. <\/div><div>Reuters was also unable to determine the total amount of money, including attorney or consulting fees, involved in securing these high-profile influencers. Insiders say the value they provide is clear: \u201cI have access, I have relationships,\u201d Stanton King, the author and former Kennedy advisor, told Reuters. \u201cBecause of that, I\u2019m in the perfect position to be able to advocate and make sure that someone\u2019s name or application isn\u2019t just sitting over somewhere in a pile getting dusty.\u201d <\/div><div>In this new landscape, personal access to Trump or his confidants is more effective than traditional methods of wooing an administration. Reuters found only two successful pardon recipients who disclosed hiring registered lobbyists, a conventional path for courting influence, to work on their behalf, paying a combined $2.7 million. Another 26 people, lobbying records show, spent a total of nearly $1.9 million on lobbyists to no avail. <\/div><div>In her statement, the White House spokesperson wrote that \u201canyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money.\u201d<\/div><div>Lobbyists must disclose in federal filings their persuasion efforts and what they do for the money. The hush-hush of informal influence is more difficult to track. One influencer, who asked not to be identified, has helped several clemency recipients through access to Trump\u2019s confidants. The tactic \u201cis a little bit like Game of Thrones \u2013 who\u2019s in power, who\u2019s important,\u201d the person said. \u201cWe\u2019ll say to a client, \u2018tell us anybody you know in the political world. It could be your best friend\u2019s cousin from elementary school.\u2019\u201d<\/div><div>That influencer was one of several who told Reuters their advocacy has included outreach to Trump family members including Donald Trump Jr., the president\u2019s eldest son. The person declined to elaborate on those contacts. In a statement, Andy Surabian, a spokesperson for Trump Jr., said: \u201cDon has not advocated for any pardons for anyone during his father\u2019s second term.\u201d<\/div><div>Some pardon recipients and their advocates have gained favor by making political donations or with help from well-funded partisans or political organizations. Although criticized by some ethics experts as a possible quid pro quo, it\u2019s not a crime for a president to grant clemency to benefactors of their campaign or party, unless an explicit agreement to sell forgiveness exists. <\/div><div>According to Federal Election Commission records, 10 of the recipients, influencers and companies they ran \u2013 including Milton, the EV entrepreneur \u2013 donated a total of more than $10 million to Trump-related political coffers, both before and after clemency decisions. Others, including a Florida man convicted of stealing fishing gear used to trap sharks for research, benefitted when political interest groups espoused their causes. <\/div><div>Compared with the past, \u201cthere\u2019s nothing other than money, praise, partisanship and relationships that dictates who gets pardons,\u201d said Ty Cobb, a White House counsel during the first Trump administration who is now a private attorney in South Carolina.<\/div><div><\/div><h3>\u201cCREATE A STORY\u201d<\/h3><div>The pardon power, meant to correct injustices and allow for mercy from outside the judicial system, is entrusted to the president by the U.S. Constitution. It is broad in reach. Presidents can pardon, or forgive, any federal criminal conviction. They can commute sentences to shorter terms. <\/div><div>To formalize the process, and minimize any corruption associated with it, the DOJ began overseeing pardon recommendations in the late 19th century. Most presidents since have followed the department\u2019s guidelines, but there have been exceptions. <\/div><div>Bill Clinton in 2001 notoriously pardoned Marc Rich, a billionaire commodities trader who fled the United States rather than face charges including tax evasion, after Rich\u2019s associates made donations and advocated on his behalf. Joe Biden, just before leaving office, broke a public vow by pardoning his troubled son Hunter, who had recently been convicted on federal gun and tax charges.<\/div><div>Both former presidents have defended their clemency actions. <\/div><div>Starting his first day back in office, Trump outdid them all. He immediately granted clemency to the estimated 1,500 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021, none of whom would have qualified under DOJ guidelines. More than 200 other pardons and commutations have followed, including at least two pardons initiated by the White House before recipients had even sought one.<\/div><div>Most of those subsequent recipients have employed what several people involved in the actions described as a \u201chybrid\u201d process. The approach entails some combination of personal appeals, influential intermediaries, political donations, and a narrative of victimization by Biden-era prosecutors. It has enabled those who get the right access to leapfrog a line of other applicants. Liz Oyer, a former DOJ pardon attorney during the Biden administration and early in Trump\u2019s current term, calculates the current backlog at about 20,000 applications. <\/div><div>Sam Mangel, a Florida clemency consultant, said he has worked on behalf of 10 successful recipients during this Trump term and is currently pressing for about 20 others. He described the process this way: \u201cCan you create a story that is similar to what members of this administration, including the president, have gone through? Then, can you somehow get it into the hands of the White House counsel?\u201d<\/div><div>Mangel declined to name his clients, but said he usually charges tens of thousands of dollars to advise them. <\/div><div>Milton, founder of Nikola, a failed electric vehicle manufacturer based in Arizona, was convicted in October 2022 of defrauding investors by promoting a business venture for products that didn\u2019t work. Among other evidence cited by federal prosecutors, he famously filmed a promotional video of a truck rolling down a hill \u2013 but gravity, not electricity, was propelling it. When Trump re-entered the White House, Milton was out on bail, appealing his conviction and four-year prison sentence, and heavily courting the new president and his allies. <\/div><div>In 2024, electoral records show, Milton contributed at least $1.84 million to campaigns supporting both Trump and Kennedy ahead of the presidential election. Reuters couldn\u2019t ascertain when or where Milton and Kennedy may have first crossed paths. But Trump in his phone call to Milton in early 2025 made clear that Kennedy was a strong advocate. <\/div><div>Trump also spoke fondly about his own personal meeting with Milton and his family at an undisclosed place and time before the pardon. According to previously unreported details of the conversation, Trump said: \u201cYou made a great impression \u2013 your father, you and your wife.\u201d <\/div><div>The president said he identified with Milton\u2019s plight. \u201cWhen I met you I said, \u2018This man didn\u2019t do anything wrong,\u2019\u201d Trump told Milton. He disparaged the federal prosecutors on the case. \u201cI heard the scum that was after you was the same scum that was after everybody.\u201d<\/div><div>After being pardoned, Milton expressed little of the remorse traditionally required of recipients. According to the DOJ guidelines: \u201cA petitioner should be genuinely desirous of forgiveness rather than vindication.\u201d In a social media post the day of his pardon, Milton wrote he was one of many Americans \u201crailroaded by the government.\u201d He added that \u201ctrust and confidence in the Justice Department has eroded to nothing.\u201d <\/div><div>In his statement to Reuters, Milton blamed a plot among the media, financial markets and federal prosecutors to \u201cburn my company to the ground.\u201d He said he was targeted because of his longstanding support for Trump. He offered no substantiation of those claims. \u201cThey came after me, my family, and everything I had built because of it.\u201d <\/div><div>That sense of grievance is widely voiced among the president\u2019s populist supporters. It\u2019s a throughline for much of Trump\u2019s mercy \u2013 from the Capitol riot clemency to the pardons he granted shortly thereafter for 24 activists convicted of interfering with abortion clinics. Then there was the pardon last November for Troy Lake, a truck shop owner in Wyoming.<\/div><div>Sentenced in 2024 to just over a year in prison, Lake had pled guilty to altering emissions controls on at least 344 diesel trucks. The tampering was a violation of the Clean Air Act, an environmental law long derided by conservatives. Lake\u2019s sentence caused outcry among critics including Cynthia Lummis, a Republican senator from Wyoming. Last year, citing Lake\u2019s case, Lummis sought to amend the act, arguing that Democrats and environmental regulators \u201cwage war on rural America.\u201d <\/div><div>Meanwhile, two military veterans, friends of Lake\u2019s, petitioned Lee Zeldin, a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and Trump\u2019s administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. \u201cPlease reach out to the President,\u201d they wrote in an August email reviewed by Reuters, \u201cto request a pardon, clemency, or commutation.\u201d <\/div><div>EPA spokespeople didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment. <\/div><div>Holly Lake, Troy\u2019s wife, said Zeldin\u2019s intervention proved crucial. \u201cThat\u2019s when we started getting some movement,\u201d she said in an interview. The movement included a phone call from Sean Hayes, a White House attorney, to discuss a pardon. Hayes is a central figure in any pardon process, according to several people familiar with the administration\u2019s clemency efforts.<\/div><div>Reuters was unable to reach Hayes outside official White House channels for comment.<\/div><div>In addition to discussing her husband\u2019s pardon, Holly Lake said, Hayes asked the couple whether they knew of other cases in which defendants had been targeted by overzealous prosecutors. They have since advocated for others prosecuted on similar charges involving emissions devices. In January, the DOJ said it would stop prosecuting such cases.<\/div><div>Lake, who served seven months of a yearlong sentence, told Reuters the president believes that regulatory agencies have gone too far. \u201cThey\u2019re going rogue,\u201d he said. \u201cIn his second term, he really realized how much is wrong out there.\u201d<\/div><div>Some politically influential organizations have worked to bring cases to the White House\u2019s attention. After Trump\u2019s November 2024 election, the Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation, libertarian organizations dedicated to limiting the role of government, both highlighted the case of John R. Moore, Jr., a Florida boater and diver. Moore was convicted in 2022 of stealing fishing gear used to catch sharks by a company licensed to do so for research. <\/div><div>Moore and a colleague were fined and sentenced to probation for theft in federal waters. The men thought they were freeing the sharks from illegal capture, Moore told Reuters. <\/div><div>After the two libertarian organizations published opinion pieces criticizing the convictions, Jim Jordan, a Republican congressman from Ohio and Trump ally, highlighted the case in a May 2025 hearing of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Also at the hearing were a Cato researcher and Tolman, the former U.S. attorney who has been involved in at least 12 pardons. Michael Fox, the Cato researcher, told Reuters that Tolman, while not part of Moore\u2019s defense team, helped draw attention to the case.<\/div><div>\u201cI had no idea that anyone was working on my behalf,\u201d Moore said in a telephone interview. \u201cI\u2019m still surprised that my case resonated.\u201d <\/div><div>After the hearing, Hayes, the White House counsel, called Marc Seitles, Moore\u2019s attorney, to discuss a pardon that Trump ultimately announced weeks later. \u201cI was shocked,\u201d Seitles said in an interview, noting he hadn\u2019t even requested a pardon yet. \u201cHe asked, \u2018Can you tell us the facts and circumstances of the case?\u2019 And of course I took full advantage of that.\u201d <\/div><div>As with Lake, the Wyoming truck mechanic, Seitles said Hayes asked if he knew of other cases of prosecutorial excess. Seitles said he has since made recommendations for others. <\/div><h3>\u201cPUT A KIND WORD IN\u201d <\/h3><div>Among the most effective advocates, Reuters\u2019 review shows, are Trump associates who themselves have received clemency. The official the White House has dubbed its \u201cpardon czar,\u201d responsible for organizing clemency efforts, is Alice Marie Johnson. She was pardoned by Trump during his first term after serving more than two decades in prison on a conviction related to a cocaine conspiracy and money laundering. When Trump announced her appointment last year, he described her as \u201can inspiration\u201d and told her \u201cto find people just like you,\u201d perceived to have been victimized by the courts.<\/div><div>Another top advocate is Stone, the political consultant. At the end of his first administration, Trump pardoned Stone, who had been convicted in 2019 for obstructing a Congressional investigation regarding the 2016 presidential election. Stone\u2019s connections have proven valuable for clemency seekers. Not only does he enjoy access to the White House, Stone also hosts a radio show on prominent conservative broadcasters, where he has championed some of the recipients\u2019 causes.<\/div><div>In a text message exchange, Stone said he is motivated by justice, not remuneration. \u201cI have not received a single penny,\u201d he told Reuters. \u201cI was moved by either prosecutorial overreach or misconduct, judicial bias, or political weaponization.\u201d Reuters was unable to confirm his assertion.<\/div><div>One beneficiary is Scott Howard Jenkins, a former county sheriff in Virginia. Jenkins was convicted by a federal jury in December 2024 of accepting over $75,000 in bribes from area businesspeople in exchange for appointing them deputies. Despite vocal opposition from Virginia public officials, Stone was among several advocates who urged the administration to pardon Jenkins, an outspoken Trump supporter. <\/div><div>In May 2025, as Jenkins prepared to surrender for a 10-year prison sentence, Trump pardoned him. In a post online, the president said Jenkins had been \u201cpersecuted by the Radical Left \u2018monsters.\u2019\u201d Jenkins appeared on the day of the pardon on Stone\u2019s show. \u201cAll of you who have put a kind word in and did the work you did to communicate with the White House,\u201d Jenkins said, \u201cI\u2019m forever indebted.\u201d <\/div><div>Absent from Trump\u2019s clemency: three others who cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and pled guilty to paying Jenkins the bribes. Stone, by text message, said he didn\u2019t speak up for the others because he found their testimony flawed and characteristic of the \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d trial. <\/div><div>In one case, prominent connections enabled a longtime Democratic operative to receive clemency. Carlos Watson and Ozy Media, his California-based media company, along with co-conspirators were found in 2024 to have defrauded investors of more than $60 million by lying about business deals with Google and Oprah Winfrey. Watson, who is African American, argued at his sentencing that prosecutors unfairly targeted him because of his race, that his conviction was \u201ca modern lynching.\u201d <\/div><div>Watson didn\u2019t respond to Reuters\u2019 requests for comment. <\/div><div>With Trump\u2019s return to office, Watson\u2019s attorney, Arthur Aidala, turned to friends in high places, according to three people familiar with the process. Based in the president\u2019s native city of New York, Aidala had represented figures including Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Trump attorney, and Steve Bannon, the populist ideologue and White House strategist during the first Trump administration. Both men, accused separately of federal crimes, are themselves among Trump\u2019s pardon recipients. <\/div><div>The people familiar with the process told Reuters that Bannon knew Watson before his conviction and spoke to his family about the clemency bid. Bannon told them they could use him as a reference, these people said.<\/div><div>Bannon in a telephone call confirmed the interaction, but declined to elaborate. Neither Aidala nor Giuliani responded to requests for comment.<\/div><div>Also involved: Stanton King , the former Kennedy advisor and conservative author based in Atlanta. She received a Trump pardon in 2020, years after serving a sentence related to car thefts. Stanton King told Reuters she became a \u201cserious advocate\u201d for Watson after someone \u201cinside the same circles\u201d asked for her help. <\/div><div>\u201cI was one of many advocates,\u201d she wrote in an email.<\/div><div>Some longtime acquaintances of the president said they have adapted to Trump\u2019s new avenues for clemency. Peter Ticktin, a South Florida lawyer, has known Trump since 1961 and represented him in an unsuccessful lawsuit against Hillary Clinton in 2022. Ticktin said he visited the president at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort, earlier this year, carrying a list of a dozen petitioners who have enlisted him to help seek pardons.<\/div><div>When he mentioned the list to Trump, Ticktin said, the president advised him to use an untraditional path and hand it to nearby Secret Service agents guarding the U.S. leader. \u201cThat\u2019s the protocol,\u201d Ticktin said he was told, for security reasons. The White House didn\u2019t address questions about the Secret Service\u2019s role or approaches from pardon seekers to the president at Mar-a-Lago. <\/div><div> \u201cAll I wanted,\u201d Ticktin added, was to \u201cask that these people be looked at as soon as possible.\u201d<\/div><div>Similar requests are pending from Mangel, the Florida consultant who advises clients to \u201ccreate a story\u201d that will resonate with the president. One of the many new candidates Mangel is considering advocating for is himself.<\/div><div>Convicted of insurance fraud violations a decade ago, Mangel served nearly two years in federal prison and then rebuilt his life advising defendants. Although his crime and sentence are behind him, Mangel says a pardon would allow him to travel abroad more easily. <\/div><div>\u201cIn our society, there will always be avenues to try to accomplish something in a more expeditious way,\u201d he said of clemency under Trump. \u201cLife is not fair.\u201d<\/div><div><br\/>\n<\/div><h3>How Reuters documented the cast of influencers transforming the pardon process under Trump<\/h3><div>Reuters set out to build a dataset that described relationships between pardon and clemency recipients, their advocates, and members of the Trump administration. Our starting point was the list of pardons and clemency actions on the Justice Department website. But that information isn\u2019t always complete: The recipients of Trump\u2019s mass pardon of January 6 rioters were not individually listed by name. <\/div><div>Reporters prepared notes based on their reporting and research. Data reporters used computer code to prompt an AI system to convert that text to data describing people, organizations and their relationships and interactions.<\/div><div>We also used AI to search each recipient online and return more data in the same format. We added public data from federal lobbying disclosures, converted to the same format.<\/div><div>The exercise produced 650 relationships for reporters to review. Each involved a pardon recipient, a possible advocate and notes on what the advocate may have done to make pardon or clemency more likely.<\/div><div>Reporters worked through this list, verifying every relationship with dozens of interviews or public records, and adding more relationships. We conducted further analysis of political contribution data and lobbying records. This vetted and expanded data is the basis of our finding: We identified 290 influencers who advocated 624 times in 197 successful bids for clemency. <\/div><div>Our count is incomplete, and more likely to capture actions that generate public records, like registered lobbying and campaign contributions. It undoubtedly misses some of the backchannel conversations that our reporting shows are so important to Trump\u2019s pardon process.<\/div><div><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"Marisa Taylor\" class=\"wp-image-1649\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f94c1c5b69cbab806f5aa3d27dbe493f.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>Marisa Taylor<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>X<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Linkedin<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"Chris Prentice\" class=\"wp-image-891\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/76ba689943c07990ec1fd931b43fb443.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>Chris Prentice<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>X<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Linkedin<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"Kaylee Kang\" class=\"wp-image-1650\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f3b9c0b8eccd2bb0430ee776261e9bfe.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>Kaylee Kang<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"Allison Martell\" class=\"wp-image-1651\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a633d57699645ca05e2d495090bf0148.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>Allison Martell<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><\/div><\/div><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1647\">Exclusive: Kash Patel on the FBI\u2019s defining test: securing the World Cup<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1645\">Wall Street buckles up for SpaceX liftoff, hoping for a glitch-free ride<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1642\">Hormuz reopening could be OPEC\u2019s undoing<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Reuters investigation found nearly all the clemency decisions made by President Trump during his current term flouted longstanding Justice Department guidelines. In place of traditional rules, the White House relies on a network of influential advocates espousing pardons based on partisan, personal criteria. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[82],"class_list":["post-1652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-investigations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers - Reliable Moving Crews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers - Reliable Moving Crews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Reuters investigation found nearly all the clemency decisions made by President Trump during his current term flouted longstanding Justice Department guidelines. In place of traditional rules, the White House relies on a network of influential advocates espousing pardons based on partisan, personal criteria.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reliable Moving Crews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T11:08:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"19 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\"},\"headline\":\"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T11:08:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652\"},\"wordCount\":3858,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/abf4f4d37e044a6bbcb4f28413627ab8.avif\",\"keywords\":[\"Investigations\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652\",\"name\":\"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers - Reliable Moving Crews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/abf4f4d37e044a6bbcb4f28413627ab8.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T11:08:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/abf4f4d37e044a6bbcb4f28413627ab8.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/abf4f4d37e044a6bbcb4f28413627ab8.avif\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1005},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1652#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reliable Moving Crews\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers - Reliable Moving Crews","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers - Reliable Moving Crews","og_description":"A Reuters investigation found nearly all the clemency decisions made by President Trump during his current term flouted longstanding Justice Department guidelines. In place of traditional rules, the White House relies on a network of influential advocates espousing pardons based on partisan, personal criteria.","og_url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652","og_site_name":"Reliable Moving Crews","article_published_time":"2026-06-11T11:08:01+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"19 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24"},"headline":"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers","datePublished":"2026-06-11T11:08:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652"},"wordCount":3858,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/abf4f4d37e044a6bbcb4f28413627ab8.avif","keywords":["Investigations"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652","name":"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers - Reliable Moving Crews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/abf4f4d37e044a6bbcb4f28413627ab8.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-11T11:08:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/abf4f4d37e044a6bbcb4f28413627ab8.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/abf4f4d37e044a6bbcb4f28413627ab8.avif","width":1920,"height":1005},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1652#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Forget the DOJ. For a Trump pardon, call \u201cBobby\u201d and other influencers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/","name":"Reliable Moving Crews","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}