In fact, just yesterday, as part of the parade of partisan allies showing up at the Manhattan Criminal Court, Bernard Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner, was on hand to show his support for the defendant.
Kerik, of course, also went to prison after pleading guilty to federal tax fraud and other charges before his release in 2013. As Marketwatch noted, he also received a Trump pardon in 2020.
The former president's courthouse entourage also included Chuck Zito, who, as The New Republic noted, also spent several years in prison for drug conspiracy charges.
This comes a week after the public learned that Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, also had an advisory role with the Republican National Convention, despite Manafort having gone to prison - right up until Trump pardoned him shortly before Christmas 2020, rewarding his former aide for failing to cooperate with law enforcement.
Meanwhile, Peter Navarro, another member of Trump's inner circle, is currently in prison, while it appears increasingly likely that Steve Bannon, who remains close with the former president's operation, will soon be behind bars, too.
USA Today's report added that Michael Flynn and Roger Stone "are spending time with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago," and both received Trump pardons after being accused of serious felonies.
The number of people in Trump's orbit who've been convicted of crimes in recent years is so great, The Washington Post once described it as the "remarkable universe of criminality" surrounding the former president.
Steve Benen
It's absolutely amazing that the party of law and order is allowing itself to be headed by an unrepentant Mafia boss wannabe, masquerading as a politician while using donors to fund his own lifestyle. Never in history has any President been surrounded by convicted criminals like Donald Trump is. And he's proud to have their backing to the point he's either pardoned or commuted their sentences, completely rendering justice moot as long as you're one of his close friends, donors, or advisors.
Criminals gonna commit crimes. It's who they are and what they do.
