President Barack Obama granted a single-day record of 231 clemencies Monday, as his White House counsel predicted there would be more in the weeks to come before he departs office in January.
Obama pardoned 78 individuals and commuted the sentences of 153 more.
Fox News has more information:
White House Counsel Neil Eggleston announced the decisions in an official blog post. He described all the individuals being pardoned or seeing their sentences shortened as “deserving.” … He also previewed additional clemency decisions in the weeks ahead, saying: “I expect that the President will issue more grants of both commutations and pardons before he leaves office.” The decisions could fuel criticism from the right, following a presidential campaign in which winner Donald Trump hammered a law-and-order message and suggested authorities were too soft on crime. But Obama has been granting commutations at rapid-fire pace in his final months in office, focusing primarily on shortening sentences of those convicted of drug offenses rather than pardons.
The actions Monday now bring the total number of clemencies during the Obama administration to 1,324, the most since the Truman presidency, according to Justice Department statistics. The 1,176 commutations are the most since the Wilson administration.
More of Eggleston’s comments are here.
