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Trump is expected to issue more than 100
pardons and commutations on his last full day in office. Two
sources familiar with the discussions, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said Trump appeared to have been dissuaded from
pardoning himself or members of his family.
Lil Wayne pleaded guilty last month to possessing a loaded,
gold-plated handgun when his chartered jet landed in Miami in
December 2019. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison
at a Jan. 28 hearing in Miami.
Lil Wayne appeared to support Trump during last year's
presidential campaign when he tweeted a photo of himself with
the president and said he backed Trump's criminal justice reform
program and economic plan for African Americans.
The sources confirmed a New York Times report that the list of
pardons and commutations is expected to include former New York
Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, 76, who was convicted of
corruption charges in 2015.
Trump's list is not expected to include Giuliani, the Trump
private lawyer who has been a vocal proponent of the president's
claims of voter fraud in the Nov. 3 presidential election won by
Democrat Joe Biden.
The sources also said not expected to get a pardon is Steve
Bannon, who helped Trump win election in 2016 and was a senior
White House adviser. Bannon, 66, has pleaded not guilty to
charges that he defrauded donors to "We Build the Wall," an
online fundraising campaign that raised $25 million.
Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, was also not expected to
get a pardon, the sources said.
The U.S. Justice Department in 2019 asked Britain to extradite
Assange to the United States to face charges that he conspired
to hack U.S. government computers and violated an espionage law.
A British judge ruled two weeks ago Assange should not be
extradited to the United States, saying his mental health
problems meant he would be at risk of suicide.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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