WV Democratic Party Chair Questions Pardons

Democratic Party Chair Questions President Biden's Decision to Pardon Those Charged with Political Corruption

Charleston, WV — While we recognize and applaud President Biden’s role in leading the nation through significant economic challenges - including passing landmark legislation that created record numbers of jobs and steering the country through post-COVID inflation without falling into a recession — we are deeply disappointed by his decision to commute the sentences of individuals convicted of public corruption.

West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said, “Public corruption is a betrayal of trust. When officials abuse the power of their office for personal gain, they not only harm the communities they are supposed to serve, but they also erode faith in our government institutions. President Biden’s decision to grant clemency to three high-profile public officials convicted of corruption is a blow to the principle of accountability in public service.”

Pushkin added, “Even more troubling, these kinds of pardons are exactly what we would expect from President-elect Donald Trump, not President Biden. Trump’s first term was marked by the use of his pardon power to absolve those convicted of public corruption. He pardoned Michael Flynn, Stephen K. Bannon, Kwame Kilpatrick, Rep. Randall Cunningham, and Rick Renzi — all convicted of corruption or serious abuses of public trust. By following this same path, President Biden has legitimized the idea that public officials who violate their oaths of office are above the law. Worse still, it will embolden Trump to issue even more pardons for political corruption if he returns to the White House.”

Among the most egregious of Biden’s clemency decisions are the following:

1. Michael Conahan: The former Pennsylvania judge who was at the center of the infamous “kids-for-cash” scandal. Conahan took kickbacks to sentence juveniles to for-profit detention centers, robbing children of their futures while lining his own pockets. His actions destroyed lives and shattered trust in the justice system.

2. Rita Crundwell: As the former comptroller of Dixon, Illinois, Crundwell embezzled nearly $54 million from her own town over two decades, the largest municipal fraud case in U.S. history. The impact on Dixon — a small, working-class community — was devastating.

3. Jimmy Dimora: A former Cuyahoga County Commissioner in Ohio, Dimora orchestrated one of the largest pay-to-play corruption schemes in Ohio history. He accepted $450,000 in bribes, including gambling trips, prostitutes, and even a stone-fired pizza oven.

These were not cases of wrongful convictions or flawed trials. There were no serious doubts about the facts of these cases or the fairness of the judicial process. In each instance, the public officials in question were found guilty of clear, deliberate acts of corruption. These commutations do not serve the public good — they undermine it.

Public servants hold a sacred trust, and that trust must be protected at all costs. These commutations send a dangerous message that if you betray that trust for personal profit, you might still walk free. That’s not justice, and it’s not accountability.

Pushkin said, “We remain grateful for President Biden’s accomplishments in leading the country through an extraordinary period of economic recovery. But these decisions to commute the sentences of corrupt public officials send the wrong message to the American people. Integrity in public service must be non-negotiable, and West Virginians deserve to know that their public officials are held to the highest standards of accountability and justice.”