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Rapper Lil Wayne and people jailed under President-elect Joe Biden’s draconian drug laws may be among the recipients of President Trump’s final clemency decisions this week.
The precise timing of the next batch of pardons and prison commutations is unclear, but it may come on Trump’s final full day in office on Tuesday, a source close to the process tells The Post.
Lil Wayne, who effectively endorsed Trump for re-election, is said to be among the pardon recipients, the source said. The rapper recently pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a gun, which wasn’t allowed due to a prior felony conviction.
Also expected to receive clemency are lesser-known people serving long prison sentences under Biden’s 1994 crime law. At least two men serving life in prison for marijuana dealing under the Biden law’s three-strikes provision, paraplegic Michael Pelletier, 64, and Corvain Cooper, 41, asked Trump to release them.
It remains unclear whether Trump will issue more divisive pardons that have seen fierce disagreement among his inner circle, including for mass surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden. Trump said last year he was considering a pardon for Snowden. Republicans who support and oppose Snowden have been lobbying Trump.
It’s also unclear if Trump will make a last-minute decision to protectively pardon himself or members of his inner circle — or if he will issue surprise celebrity reprieves, such as for “Tiger King” star Joe Exotic, who has many fans close to the White House. Exotic, a former zoo owner whose real name is Joe Maldonado-Passage, has a 22-year prison sentence for hiring someone to murder animal rights activist Carole Baskin, though his eponymous 2020 docuseries cast doubt on his guilt.
Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris, meanwhile, is believed to have a strong chance of reprieve from Trump. Harris, convicted in 1988 of attempted murder, has significant celebrity support and the backing of some advocates close to Trump.
Also possible is a pardon for 2016 Trump campaign chairman Steve Bannon, who was fired as White House strategist in August 2017 as Trump regained his political footing after outrage over his response to racist violence in Charlottesville, Va.
Bannon is accused of swindling donors who gave money to what they believed to be a fundraiser to privately build part of the Mexico border wall. Trump slammed “Sloppy Steve” in 2018 after the strategist was reported calling Ivanka Trump “dumb as a brick” and Donald Trump Jr. “treasonous.” Trump also denounced the private wall-funding effort, saying he had no association with it.
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