Donald Trump takes Care of his fellow Fraud Criminals…

A President convicted of fraud,  reaches out to his ‘rogue’s gallery of fraudsters.’ 

This IS the admin that started the Minnesota Mass ICE/CBP invasion based on fraud in Minnesota?

Mr. Trump has granted clemency to more than 70 allies, donors and others convicted in fraud cases. In his second term, Mr. Trump’s pace of pardoning those convicted of fraud has increased. In the first year of his second term, he handed out nearly three dozen pardons and commutations for people accused of fraud.

Mr. Trump is unabashed about using the government to reward friends and supporters and punish foes. Still, his handling of fraud cases stands out. Not only are there striking similarities between some of the crimes that were prosecuted and those that were pardoned, but the president also has excused some of those who have stolen the most.

Exhibit A is Philip Esformes. The South Florida owner of nursing and assisted-living facilities was arrested in 2016 in what the F.B.I. called “the largest-ever criminal health care fraud case brought against individuals.” The fraudulent billing scheme stole $1.3 billion from Medicare and Medicaid — the same type of public entitlement programs the president says he is protecting with his crackdown on fraud in Minnesota and elsewhere.

But Mr. Trump commuted Mr. Esformes’s 20-year-sentence in 2020, after a lobbying campaign by well-connected lawyers and public figures. In announcing the commutation, which left in place $5.5 million in restitution, a statement from the White House said Mr. Esformes had devoted his time in prison “to prayer and repentance.”

“The war on fraud seems like a war on specific fraud committed by a specific kind of people,” said Elizabeth G. Oyer, who was fired as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney after she said she opposed restoring the gun rights of Mel Gibson, the actor and prominent supporter of Mr. Trump……

…

Fraud charges are brought in a wide swath of financial crime cases, and Mr. Trump has used his clemency power in many types of fraud cases and for many reasons.

Some clemency went to people who are politically aligned with the president….

…

Mr. Trump has granted pardons to politicians from both parties whom he views as loyal, including former Representative George Santos, the New York Republican and serial fabulist who was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Other pardons or commutations went to political donors or their relatives, although the White House has denied a connection between clemency and cash….

…

In the Oval Office on Monday, Mr. Trump signed an executive order, “Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud,” put Vice President JD Vance in charge and gave him the nickname “Fraud Czar.”

“As the president said,” Mr. Vance explained, “this is a problem that has festered in this country for far too long, and far too few people have actually wanted to do anything about it. That’s what makes this administration different.”….

…

….there is “certainly a deep contradiction” in the administration’s approach to fighting fraud.

“The message they want to send about fraud is that blue states have been suckers about fraud and the other message is that the government has been too tough on people who commit fraud in other contexts,”

More….