Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Pence, said on Tuesday he thinks the Trump administration has pursued a “pretty gross” approach to pardon policy.
In an interview on “CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip,” the conservative commentator said that while he’ll defend a lot of Trump’s policies, “I have no interest in defending his pardon policy.”
“I think it’s been pretty gross,” Short added, noting he disagreed with the pardon policy of the first Trump administration, as well.
Short sharply criticized President Biden’s record on pardons and said, “I think that’s what makes it difficult for Democrats to condemn” Trump’s record on pardons, adding, “just because of how gross Biden’s pardons were.”
“But it’s almost like he [Trump] saw what Biden and said, ‘Hold my beer, I’m going to show you and even go farther,’” Short said.
Trump on Tuesday announced pardons for embattled reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who starred in the “Chrisley Knows Best” reality series from 2014 to 2023. The duo was convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion charges in 2022.
The father was sentenced to 12 years in prison and the mother was sentenced to seven years in prison. Both were also given 16 months of probation.
Those pardons came shortly after new reporting alleged Trump pardoned Paul Walczak, a man who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes, one month after his mother attended a Mar-a-Lago fundraising dinner with a $1 million cost per person. Less than three weeks later, according to The New York Times, Walczak was pardoned.
The report about the timing of Trump’s pardon comes amid scrutiny over his clemency moves since returning to the Oval Office, including his controversial pardoning of nearly all Jan. 6 defendants — roughly 1,500 people charged in connection with the 2021 Capitol attack — on his first day back in the White House.
