Biden DOJ Official Slammed Last-Minute Clemency Grants For Supposedly ‘Non-Violent’ Offenders, Emails Show

A Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) official slammed the White House for labeling offenders granted last-minute clemency as “non-violent,” according to emails obtained by the Oversight Project.

Then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Brad Weinsheimer expressed confusion about what offenses the president intended the commutation warrants to cover, as well as frustration about how the White House described the offenders “as people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses,” in a Jan. 18 email to White House Counsel’s Office attorneys.

“I think you should stop saying that because it is untrue or at least misleading,” Weinsheimer wrote. “As you know, even with the exceedingly limited review we were permitted to do of the individuals we believed you might be considering for commutation action, we initially identified 19 that were highly problematic.”

Former President Joe Biden announced Jan. 17 that he would commute sentences for 2,5000 individuals who “received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine,” though the list included individuals convicted for illegally possessing firearms and men whose actions led to the death of a police officer.

Sixteen of the individuals identified as “highly problematic” by the DOJ Pardon Office ended up on the final list, Weinsheimer wrote.

“Pardon separately highlighted for you dozens more highly problematic candidates; despite the flags raised, most of these individuals also received grants of clemency,” he continued.