In the waning hours of his first administration, Donald Trump enacted one of his final executive orders on January 20, 2021 and granted clemency to 143 individuals, including former aide Steve Bannon and rapper Lil Wayne.
Four years on, Trump, now with his own felony conviction, is just weeks away from returning to the White House and a raft of fellow convicted felons are already knocking at the door.
The president can issue pardons (removing a punishment after a court decision) and commutations (a reduction in punishment for a crime) as they sees fit for federal convictions, but not state crimes.
Disgraced politicians, January 6 rioters and reality TV celebrities have already begun clamoring for a Trump pardon.
Here are the key names who have asked to be on the list:
Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs
Joseph Biggs walks from the George C. Young Federal Annex Courthouse in Orlando, Florida, in January 20, 2021 (AP)
In a Truth Social post in March, the president-elect vowed that one of his first acts in office would be to “free January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned”.
Trump has repeatedly pledged to pardon the hundreds of his supporters charged for their involvement in the riots on the Capitol building in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021, in a violent attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election.
Joseph Biggs is hoping to be one of them.
Biggs is one of four Proud Boys leaders currently serving a prison sentence after he was found guilty of seditious conspiracy last year. At least 70 other members of the far-right extremist group were charged for participating in the violence.
Last week Biggs’ attorney Norm Pattis requested that Trump grant his client a “complete pardon”.
“These are divisive times,” Pattis wrote. “The divisions were acute in 2020, when millions believed the election was stolen and turned out to make sure electoral integrity was preserved. Suspicions and bitterness about the election lingers to this day.”
He compared it to pardoning confederate supporters after the Civil War.
“A pardon of Mr. Biggs will help close that wound and inspires confidence in the future,” he said.
Tiger King’s Joe Exotic
Joe Exotic was the star of Netflix’s hit series Tiger King (Netflix US/AFP via Getty Images)
The infamous star of Netflix’s Tiger King penned Trump a letter from Fort Worth’s Federal Medical Center, a federal prison for those with medical needs.
“A lot of people went to bat for you in 2021 who have been living in hell ever since then,” he said, according to an excerpt of the letter obtained last week by Radar Online.
“Everyone hopes you keep the promises you made during your campaign, which include pardoning everyone sooner than later in January 2025.”
Joe Allen Maldonado, aka Joe Exotic, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for a murder-for-hire plot against his arch-enemy Carole Baskin and charges of animal abuse.
The 61-year-old former exotic animal keeper had one more request for the president-elect: to be hired as the Federal Fish and Wildlife director.
“It is time to bring some honesty to this department because the former director, Dan Ash, only looked out for himself and his position within the Association of Zoos and Aquariums,” he continued.
A recent Saturday Night Live skit mocked Exotic’s request, but the reality television personality appeared unphased and told TMZ the exposure may help him with his pardon request and, as the outlet puts it, his “genuine request to be appointed to the cabinet”.
Former Ohio House Speaker
Larry Householder sat at the head of a legislative session in Columbus, Ohio, as speaker on October 30, 2019 (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
In March last year, a jury found former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder guilty of leading a racketeering conspiracy which involved pocketing $60 million in bribes in connection with FirstEnergy Corp.
Just 16 months in to a 20 year prison sentence, Householder’s lawyer Scott Pullins has said his client is seeking a pardon.
“Larry has a long history with Donald Trump,” Pullins told News 5 Cleaveland last week. “I think he’ll be particularly receptive to this clemency request.”
Pullins said that Householder and the president-elect have kept in touch over the years after he spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
When the lawyer was asked whether Householder was seeking a commutation or pardon, the lawyer told Cleveland.com that they “will take whatever we can get”.
He added: “We are pursuing all legal avenues to bring Speaker Householder home.”
Julie and Todd Chrisley
Julie Chrisley and her husband Todd Chrisley were convicted of conspiring to defraud banks (2017 Invision)
Todd and wife Julie Chrisley, both 51, went from TV stars in their 2014 reality series Chrisley Knows Best to serving prison sentences in under a decade.
In November, 2022, the couple were sentenced after being found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans and are both serving a combined 19-year sentence.
The dad of five apparently rejoiced hearing about the incoming second Trump administration.
“Todd is jumping for joy in prison and is so optimistic that he will be able to walk out of there when Trump takes office,” a source close to the family told the Daily Mail.
Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, “truly believes that Trump will pardon her parents,” the source added.
Savannah has attempted to keep close ties with the president-elect, and in the summer spoke at the Republican National Convention, lambasting a so-called “two-faced justice system” which she said had also ensnared Trump.
Boosie Badazz
Boosie Badazz attends the BET Hip Hop Awards 2019 at Cobb Energy Center on October 5, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia (Getty Images)
Rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black were on Trump’s clemency list in 2021 — and another rapper is hoping he will be too.
Torrence Hatch, who is known more commonly as “Boosie Badazz” – or simply “Boosie” – has also asked the president-elect for a pardon.
Hatch, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was arrested during a traffic stop for possession of a firearm, shortly before he was due to perform in San Diego, California.
While the original case was dismissed on July 12, new charges brought against him in July 19 connected the initial case, and included a second charge of drug dealing.
“CAN U PARDON ME ON MY FED CASE ?,” Hatch wrote on X on November 6, just hours after Trump had garnered the 270 Electoral College votes needed to confirm his return to the White House. “i’m a NON VIOLENT FELON.”
Hatch had previously served time in prison after 2009 felony convictions for gun and drug charges.
