By John Q. Hosedrinker 
On Tuesday, President Trump pardoned sports and entertainment executive Tim Leiweke, who was indicted in July for allegedly rigging the bidding process for an arena at a public university in Austin, Texas. Leiweke, the co-founder of Oak View Group, had pleaded not guilty and was slated to stand trial next year. The pardon, posted on a justice department website, represents the fifth one granted by Trump to powerful individuals in the past week, with no official reasoning provided. The indictment alleged that Leiweke’s actions deprived the university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding.
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Trump pardons entertainment exec indicted by his own justice department, Tim Leiweke, and the whole situation just reeks. The check finally cleared, in a way. This is about a guy, Tim Leiweke, who was indicted for rigging a public bidding process. Think of it: public bidding is supposed to ensure the best use of taxpayer money. Instead, this guy allegedly tried to enrich his friend at the expense of everyone else. It’s a simple, everyday process across all industries. What a complete disregard for the public good, and it’s hard not to be disgusted. And then, Trump swoops in with a pardon.
This, unfortunately, isn’t new. It’s almost expected at this point. It’s like Trump is just pardoning people who committed the same or similar crimes that he has likely committed multiple times. It makes you wonder how the average person benefits from all of this “winning.” Perhaps a better term for his supporters is “Sleepy Joes,” completely under the influence of the Trump Kool-Aid. I can’t help but wonder if there were any donations to the Epstein Ballroom Fund involved. The big media needs to be broken up and their CEOs investigated. Trump seemingly doesn’t believe white-collar crime is actually a crime. He really does seem to operate at the intersection of incompetence and corruption. It’s starting to look like he’s selling pardons. The only one getting richer during his presidency is Trump himself.
What message does this send? It’s pretty clear: commit a crime, pay up, and walk free. Is this just another attempt to secure a place in heaven? It’s like he can’t help but do good deeds for other good people. What a joke! Is the whole indictment process just performative now? Expecting justice feels like a pipe dream for anyone who can’t influence the president, or at least pay enough money to have their freedom purchased.
It really feels like they are trying to centralize power. It’s astonishing how he pardons almost all instances of bribery and corruption. It’s easy to assume these guys are just handing him large sums of money through cryptocurrency. The party of “law and order,” right? Did President Autopen issue another pardon? Has he pardoned anyone with a net worth of less than a million, besides his J6er redneck mafia? Is Harvey Weinstein the next pay-for-freedom client? There should be some kind of limit on pardons; it’s so easy to see this abuse of power, especially after over 1000 pardons given out. It really seems Trump loves white-collar criminals.
It’s probably safe to assume that all these recent pardons are paid for somehow. All those rich folks getting pardons – it’s easy to think of cryptocurrency deposits flowing into his accounts. It’s really sad that this is the first response when he issues these pardons, especially when the press is more concerned with his attempts to undo Biden’s pardons. The press conference talking points and briefings fall flat because they contradict themselves at an alarming rate. It must be crazy to work in the Trump Justice Department. You spend countless hours investigating, building a case, arguing in court – all for nothing. If I worked there, what would be the point of investigating and charging these people, knowing there’s a 95% chance they’ll just get pardoned if they have enough money? Is it a shakedown if he can use the justice system to convict people and then pardon them after they pay some “recompense”?
It is still ridiculous, and his prosecutors must be furious about their time being wasted. The administration is a joke. Wasn’t Kristi Noem doing something similar with all those promo videos she was making for the DHS? Maybe just a dog whistle to let them know they’ll be okay, too?
This is just Trump protecting his own from being overturned by a future administration. Fighting to get previous pardons tossed out solidifies his own, even though they are way more corrupt. The talking points have *always* fallen flat to everyone except the cult. They’re not even meant to convince people outside of it, but to give the true believers excuses to keep believing.