RIDGE RUNNER CHRONICLES: The Presidential Power to Pardon, Part II

By Editor | December 2, 2025 |

Eight months ago, I wrote a column about the Presidential power to pardon, the legal basis of which can be found in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the US Constitution.The purpose of the column was to point out that there are essentially no limits or restrictions on that power.It is a “rudderless” power. Constitutional scholars have said that this power was originally intended to be used only to accomplish what was in the best interests of the country, not for the best interests of the President, the person being pardoned or any other specific beneficiary.But we have seen, ever since Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, that the Presidential power to pardon is increasingly being used for purely political purposes by both Republican and Democratic Presidents.For the most part, those who have received a Presidential pardon or commutation of their sentence have gone on to live law-abiding lives (as far as we know).But there are exceptions; in this column I want to discuss a particularly egregious commutation by President Trump that went south not long after it was granted.
Eli Weinstein, a businessman in New Jersey, was charged in 2012 with fraud relating to a real estate Ponzi scheme.While he was out on bond awaiting trial on those charges, he continued to be involved in money laundering activities.In 2013, he pled guilty to the earlier charges and was sentenced to prison for 22 years; he was also ordered to pay back millions to his victims.Then, after he started his 22 year sentence, he was charged and pled guilty to charges relating to his criminal activity while out on bond.For this, he received an additional two year prison sentence. (Do you think there might be evidence of some ongoing criminal tendencies here?)
On President Trump’s last full day in office in his first term, he commuted the remaining 16 year sentence for Weinstein and Weinstein was then released from prison.Upon his release, Weinstein told reporters, “My goal is to make everybody proud of me and to lead my life in the proper fashion.”He still owed $228,000,000 to his victims when released but this has never been repaid.Instead, shortly after being released, Weinstein adopted a false identity and again became involved in illegal Ponzi schemes, stealing over $44,000,000 from 150 investors over the next three years. (This latest scheme involved getting people to invest in non-existent COVID 19 masks, baby formulas and first-aid kits for people in Ukraine.)Weinstein was subsequently charged and tried for these latest crimes.After a seven-week trial, a jury convicted him earlier this year.On November 14, he was sentenced to 37 years in prison.
This situation begs the question as to whether anyone is keeping track of the hundreds of persons who have been pardoned or whose sentences have been commutated by one of our Presidents.After all, like it or not, some of these folks committed serious crimes, including many who were involved in drug trafficking and related crimes.You have to wonder if some of these folks were never properly vetted, as appears to be the case with Eli Weinstein.But the bigger question is whether we will ever be able to put restrictions on the Presidential power to pardon.I don’t foresee either party, while in power, making any serious attempt to put restrictions on the Presidential power to pardon in the absence of outside pressure.Maybe we should insist that it be a campaign issue in the next Presidential election and shaming the candidates into agreeing to do something about it.As it stands, the unbridled pardon power is eroding the integrity of our federal judicial system.
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■ Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].