During his first term, President Donald Trump peppered his tenure with controversial pardons to friends and notables whose freedom was as much a byproduct of their personal proximity to the Oval Office as anything else. Now, Trump's penchant for politically motivated pardons has pushed well beyond the expansive precedent he set for himself. His latest tranche of pardons and commutations reflects both a personal antipathy toward the Justice Department and a wider effort to reframe the nation's sense of criminality.

A 'new pipeline' for Trump's political allies

Trump's decision this week to pardon Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff sentenced to 10 years in prison for what the acting U.S. attorney at the time called a "cash-for-badges scheme," is part of a "broader pattern" for the Wh

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