Anderson Cooper talked last night about the woman who got not one, but two pardons from Trumpy Bear.
"Among them, someone who already got clemency in the president's first term back in 2019. Adriana Camberos was sentenced to 26 months in prison after being convicted in a scheme to sell fake five hour energy drinks. President Trump commuted that sentence in early 2021. Then in 2024, she was convicted again along with her brother, in connection with a new fraud involving the illegal resale of wholesale goods in a scheme the FBI said netted them millions," he said.
Both Barros and her brother were found guilty on eight counts and she was sentenced to more than a year in prison. But once again, she got a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card from Trump.
Jeff Toobin just published a book about pardons, and told Cooper it was impossible to challenge a presidential pardon.
"It's one of the few absolute powers in the constitution. It can't be challenged in court. It can't be challenged in congress. If a president wants to pardon someone, he can just do it. And and that's the end of the story," he said.
"I think what's what's worth noting about this crazy second pardon is that it was a case brought by the Justice Department during the Biden years. and one way to get a pardon, it seems clear because the president has granted so many of these in his first year of his second term is to say, well, this was the Biden Justice Department, and it was unfair.
"But these are cases brought by brought by career prosecutors. and, you know, the idea that this fraudster got away once with a crime, but a second time, that seems to me unprecedented in any in any history of pardons that I'm aware of."
"And they're saying that she was targeted a second time by law enforcement because she got clemency the first time from Trump," Toobin said.
"What's extraordinary is you would think that having gotten the incredible gift of a commutation and out of prison, this person would have said, you know, I don't think I'm going to commit any more crimes. But apparently she did decide to commit more crimes. Amazingly, she then got she got out of jail again. Well, I've never heard of anything like it, but this is how it's going now."
"Two of the woman's lawyers apparently had ties to President Trump's orbit, or people in President Trump's orbit. and there have been other cases in which attorneys had sort of vague connections to people in, you know, in the Trump world. I mean, is that is that a telltale sign?" Cooper said.
"Tthese pardons from the president over the course of the first year, a lot of the same lawyers are recurring, and several of them have either worked for President Trump or worked on his criminal case. Several of the other pardons come to people who have family members who gave millions of dollars to super PACs associated with President Trump," he said.
"But it's also worth noting that because of the SupremeCourt's decision in Trump versus United States, it's completely impossible for the president to be prosecuted for any sort of bribery in connection with pardons, because the Supreme Court said official actions are off limits."
