In his final weeks in the Oval Office, Donald Trump’s behavior has become increasingly unpredictable as he continues fighting to overturn the elections after losing to Joe Biden. Following the controversial pardons given to former associates and campaign officials, Trump was revealed to have been spotted golfing with Bernhard Langer a week after he pardoned Langer’s developer friend.
Last week, December 23, Trump announced that he would be giving South Florida developer James Batmasian a full pardon. Batmasian served eight months in federal prison back in 2008 for failing to pay $250,000 in payroll taxes to the IRS. Six days after granting the pardon, Trump was seen playing golf with German pro-golfer Bernhard Langer, who happened to be Batmasian’s friend. The pardoning of Batmasian was supported by Langer, as well as Republican Congressman Brian Mast, as well as others from the South Florida community.
In the statement announcing the pardon, the White House said that Batmasian made overtime payments despite not withholding for income taxes nor FICA contributions. Although it was an illegal move, Batmasian was said to have recorded all the payments and presented them to the IRS investigators without hesitation. This is the latest instance as to how Trump made use of his presidential pardon in the final weeks of his term as president.
Presidents making use of their power to pardon may not be a new instance. However, in Trump’s case, it is the first time a president used his authority to grant pardons to reward allies for their loyalty to him. An estimated 88 percent of pardons Trump has granted were to people whom he has personal or political ties to, according to Harvard professor Jack Goldsmith.
Although Trump has refused to publicly accept defeat from the elections, he has already begun planning out his life post-White House. It was initially reported that the Trumps may now be looking to stay at the Mar-a-Lago resort full time. The part of the resort that the Trumps used as their residential space was undergoing renovations, and people aware of the matter revealed that Trump did not like the redecorating done by his wife, Melania Trump. The outgoing president reportedly expressed dissatisfaction towards the renovations made in the residential part of Mar-a-Lago as it did not appeal to his preferred style.