3 conclusions from the investigation into Trump’s pardon for Jonathan Braun
Two days after Donald J. Trump left the White House, The New York Times published a story about how one of his last acts as president had been to commute the 10-year sentence of Jonathan Braun, a marijuana smuggler who had ongoing legal troubles. a reputation for making violent threats.
In his final weeks as president, Trump had used his pardon power on behalf of a parade of loyalists, as well as dozens of others who were not big political names. But few of them stood out as much as Mr. Braun, who remains under investigation by the Justice Department in an entirely different matter: for robbing small businesses through high-interest loans.
At the time of the foreclosure, the New York State Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission were also going after Mr. Braun for making predatory loans. They accused him of, among other things, threatening borrowers who owed him money. And his family had told others they were willing to spend millions of dollars to get him out of the prison sentence he had just served on the drug charges.
With Mr. Trump running for president again and suggesting he once again plans to make full use of his pardon powers if elected, The Times decided to take a closer look at how the pardon came about and what it said about standards from the Trump White House for the presidency. clemency.
Here are the key takeaways from our investigation, which is based on documents and interviews with current and former officials and others familiar with Mr. Braun’s case:
The commutation undermined a federal criminal investigation
Mr. Trump’s decision to commute Mr. Braun’s sentence undermined an ambitious Justice Department probe led by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan into predatory lenders in the lending industry by pulling the rug from under investigators who had been in negotiations. with Mr Braun about working with them.
Prosecutors believed they needed an industry insider to attack others in the industry, explain the intricacies of loan agreements and serve as a narrator on the witness stand. With Mr. Braun, who had made it clear he was desperate to get out of prison, they thought they had an ideal candidate. They were still talking to his lawyer about a deal that would have freed him from prison when Trump commuted his sentence.
Prosecutors immediately lost their leverage over Mr. Braun. The investigation into the industry and Mr. Braun’s conduct remains open, but is hampered by the lack of help from an insider.
The case exposed shortcomings in the justice system
At multiple levels, up to the President, the justice system appeared on more than one occasion to fail to fully take into account all of Mr. Braun’s activities, despite long-standing concerns among prosecutors that he was a threat and could not be deterred.
He fled the country a decade and a half ago as the Justice Department pursued him in the drug case, but prosecutors later released him pending sentencing because he agreed to cooperate in their ongoing investigations into drug traffickers. But he used that freedom to portray himself as a predatory lender, leading to a series of accusations that he threatened and intimidated — a record that the Trump White House does not appear to have considered or given any weight in granting of the redemption.
In total, he was free for almost ten years while awaiting sentencing for drug abuse. Former federal prosecutors and defense attorneys said they knew of no other case in which a suspect was allowed to remain free for so long and was involved in the conduct of which Mr. Braun is accused.
When Mr. Trump let him out of jail in early 2021, Mr. Braun returned to his work in the cash advance industry, with regulators and some clients again accusing him of using intimidating tactics.
The Kushners played a role in the pardon process
Mr. Braun’s family used ties to the family of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, to open doors in the White House. Mr. Braun had attended Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, NJ, which was funded by Jared Kushner’s family. Mr. Braun enrolled in the first freshman class, along with Jared Kushner’s youngest sister, Nicole.
In seeking a commutation, Mr. Braun’s family contacted Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner’s father. Jared Kushner’s White House office drafted the language used in the press release announcing buyout transactions for Mr. Braun and others.
Mr. Braun’s cousin, in conversations with others, has credited the Kushners with helping Mr. Braun secure the buyout.
The Braun family also hired Alan Dershowitz, the pro-Trump lawyer linked to Jared Kushner, to promote Mr. Braun’s request. Others associated with Mr. Braun later told investigators that they were told the Braun family helped secure the buyout by relying on their connections to the Kushner family.