Keeping Track

The Trump Pardon Parade

Published: January 6, 2026 • 2 min read

After a lifetime of criticizing presidents over pardons, Trump, true to form, hypocritically, has pardoned more people than any president since Jimmy Carter (Vietnam draft evaders). There have been ~1,600 people pardoned or granted commutations by Trump to date.

From mass pardons of insurgents to high-dollar clemency for elites to people Trump has never even heard of, Trump’s pardon record reads like a masterclass in loyalty, power, confusion, and the influence of money.

Here are the facts:

Jan 20, 2025 – 1,500 January 6 Rioters Got Full Pardons

Seditious conspiracy, assault on police, obstruction, and vandalism to the Capitol building not a big deal to the pardoner-in-chief. This included violent offenders and organized militia leaders. Many have been re-arrested for new charges.

Jan 21–23, 2025 – Early Individual High-Profile Pardons

Ross Ulbricht (Silk Road founder), life + 40 years for drugs, money laundering, hacking
Andrew Zabavsky & Terence Sutton, conspiracy and obstruction
23 anti-abortion activists, FACE Act violations—clinic blockades and intimidation

Spring–Summer 2025 – Political Allies and Celebrities

Brian Kelsey, campaign finance fraud
Todd & Julie Chrisley, bank fraud/tax evasion
NBA YoungBoy, gun charges

Mid–Late 2025 – Corruption and Political Networks

Michele Fiore, fraud (charity misuse)
Glen Casada & Cade Cothren, public corruption
Henry & Imelda Cuellar, bribery/conspiracy
Joe Lewis, insider trading

Late 2025–2026 – Wealth, Influence, and Biggest Eyebrow-Raisers

Daniel Edwin Wilson, Jan 6 offenses & firearms
Suzanne Kaye, threatening FBI agents
Joseph Schwartz, $38M tax fraud
Changpeng Zhao (Binance), money laundering
Trevor Milton (Nikola), fraud
Wanda Vázquez Garced, corruption
Terren Scott Peizer, insider trading
Unnamed banker — daughter donated $3.5 million to Trump super PAC

And, finally:

Juan Orlando Hernández — Former President & Convicted Drug Trafficker

In late 2025, Trump pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras who had been convicted in the United States on major drug trafficking charges involving massive cocaine shipments. Hernández’s conviction was part of one of the most ambitious DEA and federal narcotics investigations, and he was serving a long sentence at the time of the pardon. When Trump was asked why he had pardoned him, he said he didn’t know the man. And, if that is the case, then you have to ask yourself: who pardoned him?

Trump has created a pardon parade of villains and all the American people can do is watch it go by.