February 28, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - Politicians have been campaigning against government corruption probably since “campaigning” was invented. Usually, people asking for power promise to root out the corruption and graft committed by the officials they hope to replace. But Donald Trump and the modern Republican Party are trying to put a new twist on this old saw: They’re making corruption go away by making graft and self-dealing perfectly legal for public officials. Trump isn’t draining “the swamp”; he and his cronies are trying to make the swamp very legal, and very cool.

Yesterday, longtime Trump aide and confidant Roger Stone was sentenced for his conviction on charges of lying to Congress and tampering with witnesses. The sentencing guidelines called for a prison sentence of seven to nine years, but District Judge Amy Berman Jackson gave Stone just 40 months. The light sentence comes after Attorney General William Barr overruled his prosecutors on the case, and asked that Stone be let free with no jail time. Judge Jackson, an appointee of President Barack Obama, probably wasn’t unduly influenced by Barr’s request that she go light on one of Trump’s homies. But Barr’s meddling and Stone’s close relationship with the president make Jackson’s leniency appear unfair.

Meanwhile, just two days earlier, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 11 people, including former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik. Kerik is a close friend of another Trump crony, Rudy Giuliani. In fact, all those granted clemency were able to make some sort of personal connection with Trump, either directly or through the state propaganda network, Fox News. Some had hosted campaign fundraisers or inauguration parties for Trump. And then there’s former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich’s conviction for abusing his power by trying to sell Barack Obama’s former Senate seat was widely cited as an on-point comparison for Trump’s own abuse of power. Trump might as well have been looking in the mirror when he commuted Blagojevich’s sentence.