• Now we know who was behind those redactions, and a lot of newly minted apostrophe experts on Twitter might want to delete their tweets.
• NYT: 'A billionaire San Francisco real estate developer, Sanford Diller, enlisted their help in securing clemency for a Berkeley psychologist, Hugh L. Baras'
The New York Times reports tonight that the Justice Department has been investigating the roles of Trump top fund-raiser Elliott Broidy, and Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Trump son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in a reported scheme to offer bribes in exchange for clemency for a tax crimes convict.
From the New York Times:
A federal judge in Washington unsealed heavily redacted court documents on Tuesday that disclosed the existence of the investigation into possible unregistered lobbying and bribery. The people said it concerned efforts by the lawyer for Mr. Kushner, Abbe Lowell, and the fund-raiser, Elliott Broidy, who pleaded guilty in October to a charge related to a different scheme to lobby the Trump administration.
A billionaire San Francisco real estate developer, Sanford Diller, enlisted their help in securing clemency for a Berkeley psychologist, Hugh L. Baras, who had received a 30-month prison sentence on a conviction of tax evasion and improperly claiming Social Security benefits, according to the filing and the people familiar with the case. Under the suspected scheme, Mr. Diller would make "a substantial political contribution" to an unspecified recipient in exchange for the pardon. He died in February 2018, and there is no evidence that the effort continued after his death.
As part of the effort, someone approached the White House Counsel's Office to "ensure" that the "clemency petition reached the targeted officials," according to the court documents. They did not say who made the contact or how the White House responded.
The prisoner, Baras, did not receive clemency.
Read more at the NYT: Trump Associates Said to Have Been Scrutinized in Suspected Pardon Scheme [By Michael S. Schmidt, Kenneth P. Vogel, Katie Benner and Adam Goldman]
