Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned another 26, reports Thursday said.
In a second batch of clemency Trump pardoned friend Roger Stone and campaign chairman Paul Manafort. He also pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.
Manafort was convicted in 2018 in an investigation into alleged Russian intervention in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump had earlier reduced Stone's prison sentence for lying to Congress.
Kusher pleaded guilty in 2004 to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of lying to the Federal Election Commission and one count of retaliating against a federal witness. He was set free in 2006 after serving two years.
Trump pardoned former U.S. congressman Chris Collins, former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and four Blackwater guards who took part in illegal killings in Iraq.
Last month, Trump granted clemency to his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who admitted guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about connections with a top Russian official.
A pardon is an expression of the president's absolution that grants extra privileges like restoring the convict's right to vote or serve on juries.
In past administrations, authorizing late-term forgiveness has been common. President Barack Obama, for instance, during his final months in office, gave clemency to hundreds of inmates, mostly to those who committed non-violent felonies related to drugs.
Trump has mostly benefited his friends and loyalists.
