“On a personal level, it’s hard to hold any personal animosity or venom toward the individual,” Bhandari said. And many of the names on Trump’s last list were conventional and non-controversial selections, including relatively anonymous drug offenders seen as having rehabilitated themselves during long stays in prison. For instance, joining Cunningham on the pardon list was Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist. The pardon nullified the case while the trial was still months away, eliminating the prospect for any punishment for Bannon. In the final minutes of his term, Trump pardoned Al Pirro, the ex-husband of Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro, in a tax evasion case.

FILE - In this June, 24, 2004 Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is shown in Detroit. President Donald Trump commuted the 28-year prison sentence of the disgraced former Detroit mayor, who was convicted on federal corruption charges and served about seven years. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat and frequent Trump critic, welcomed the news of a commutation. This is a decision President Trump got right.”Kilpatrick’s first term as mayor was marred by accusations of misuse of city funds on personal extravagance. He resigned as mayor in 2008 before serving more than a year in jail and state prison.