Swamp Rot:

Stinkiest Story of the Week

President Trump has issued an unprecedented number of pardons and commutations since returning to office, wiping out prison sentences and hundreds of millions of dollars for crime victims and in fines. Among the beneficiaries: Crypto billionaire money launderer Changpeng Zhao; dark web drug magnate Ross Ulbricht; and billion-dollar Ponzi schemer David Gentile. Why such favorable treatment? Three lawmakers—Sen. Peter Welch, and Reps. David Min and Raul Ruiz—smell rot. They’ve sent letters to more than a dozen clemency recipients to determine how "through intermediaries, financial contributions, or other forms of influence" they got the blessing of the notoriously transactional Trump.