[273] In his term, Trump sidestepped regular Department of Justice procedures for considering pardons; instead, he often entertained pardon requests from his associates or from celebrities.[273]
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio;[274] former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine;[275] and right-wing commentator Dinesh D'Souza.[276] Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking.[277] Trump pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.[278]
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre;[279] white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik;[280] and daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner.[273] He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan,[279] Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.