“President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including a pair of congressional Republicans who were strong and early supporters, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.” Trump pardons 15, commutes 5 sentences, including GOP allies. (And he’s just getting warmed up, folks.)

+ “If you lie to cover up for the President, you get a pardon. If you are a corrupt politician who endorsed Trump, you get a pardon. If you murder civilians while at war, you get a pardon.” Adam Schiff sums it up pretty well. WaPo: Trump grants clemency to 20 people, including three former GOP members of Congress and two men convicted in the Russia probe. The most controversial of this batch of pardons are the ones involving the Blackwater security contractors involved in a deadly Iraq shooting. In short, Trump doesn’t like soldiers who were captured, but he does like contractors who commit war crimes.