Who let the dogs out? Two decades after hearing that question, we finally have our answer. Interestingly, it’s the same as the answer to the even older question, who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? Donald Trump, that’s who. From WaPo: “President Trump on Tuesday used his sweeping presidential pardon powers to wipe away the crimes of a list of boldface names, including disgraced politician Rod R. Blagojevich, convicted junk bond king Michael Milken and former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik.” The key to Trump’s pardons is the timing: First, if all convictions are political, then his impeachment must be too. Second, the move sends a clear message of protection to those cronies currently (or soon to be) under indictment. And third, aside from his tweets, Trump hadn’t done anything supportive of lawlessness in days.

+ The list of pardons is a veritable who’s who of WTF. NYT: A Complete List of Trump’s Pardons and Commutations Today.

+ From Buzzfeed, an era-defining headline: Trump Has Commuted The Sentence Of Former Illinois Governor (And ‘Apprentice’ Contestant) Rod Blagojevich. (I’m pretty sure Trump commuted the sentence of Blagojevich because he was running out of free political scumbags to hang out with…)

+ The NY Daily News chooses to focus on the positive: Unity. Revenge of the swamp creatures: Left and right, Trump pardons corruption.

+ Meanwhile, Trump called for Roger Stone to receive a new trial. “The president’s latest tweets about the Stone case show he’s completely ignored Bill Barr’s advice.” (I’m sure Bill Barr will resign in protest any second now.)

+ And speaking of Barr, Federal judges’ association calls emergency meeting after DOJ intervenes in case of Trump ally Roger Stone. “The unusual concern voiced by the judges’ group comes in the wake of an equally unusual protest. More than 2,000 former Justice Department officials called on Barr to resign.”