- President Donald Trump's longtime fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison on December 12.
- Another Trump associate, his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is facing at least a decade behind bars.
- The Constitution grants the president sweeping powers to pardon people or grant clemency.
- Trump has granted clemency to nine people so far, and he could pardon either Manafort or Cohen if he chose.
President Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced on December 12 to three years in prison for what a federal judge called a "smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct."
Cohen pleaded guilty to a slew of crimes, including tax evasion, bank fraud, lying to Congress about his role in a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, and lying to Congress about payments he made in 2016 to two women who allege they had affairs with the president.
Cohen's guilty plea and sentencing once again raises questions over Trump's clemency strategy for his former associates convicted of crimes. In Cohen's case, a pardon or commutation appears highly unlikely, given the abrupt about-face his relationship with Trump has taken in the last year.
Trump even tweeted on December 3 that he believed Cohen deserved to do hard prison time.
"'Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time.' You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term?"he said. "He lied for his outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence."
But the possibility remains open for Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Trump's presidential campaign who was convicted last August of tax fraud, bank fraud, and failing to report foreign bank accounts. He's due to be sentenced in February 2019, and has also pleaded guilty to to two conspiracy charges.
Manafort faces at least 10 years in prison for his crimes, and Trump has publicly sympathized with him, fueling speculation that a pardon is possible.
"I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. 'Justice' took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to 'break' - make up stories in order to get a 'deal,'" Trump tweeted in August. "Such respect for a brave man!"
Read more: While Michael Cohen cooperates with Mueller probe, Paul Manafort appears to be betting on a presidential pardon
Pardons are a form of executive clemency granted to the president by the Constitution — and that power is sweeping.
Trump can decide carte blanche to legally forgive or free anyone, so long as the crimes were federal ones.
Pardons essentially forgive people who have been convicted of crimes, removing any remaining punishments and restoring their rights. Commutations, on the other hand, merely reduce a prisoner's sentence.
If Trump pardoned Manafort, the move would fall in line with the president's recent trend of granting clemency to political allies, as well as people who have been championed by conservative media, prominent Republicans, or celebrities.
Here's who Trump has granted clemency to in the past.
SEE ALSO: Trump floats a pardon bonanza of high-profile people, including Martha Stewart and Illinois' infamous former governor who was on 'Celebrity Apprentice'
DON'T MISS: 'Kim has been my war angel': The unlikely story of how Kim Kardashian West is trying to get Trump to free a 63-year-old grandmother from prison
Dwight and Steven Hammond
Trump pardoned Oregon cattle ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond in July, both of whom were serving five-year prison sentences for arson.
The ranchers had long clashed with the federal government over public land, and the length of their sentences infuriated many conservatives, who saw the prosecutions as an example of federal overreach.
The Hammonds' cases even sparked the controversy that led to a 41-day standoff in 2016 at Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by a group of armed protesters who argued that federal control of public lands was unconstitutional.
In a statement, the White House noted that Dwight and Steven Hammond had already served three and four years in prison, respectively, and had paid $400,000 to the federal government in a related civil case.
"The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community, and have widespread support from their neighbors, local law enforcement, and farmers and ranchers across the West," the White House said.
Alice Marie Johnson
Trump granted his second-ever commutation to Alice Marie Johnson in June, freeing the 63-year-old grandmother and great-grandmother from a life sentence in prison.
Johnson was given the sentence in 1996 over non-violent drug offenses she had committed several years earlier. Her case received nationwide attention in recent months after the reality-television star Kim Kardashian West championed her release and paid a visit to Trump in a high-profile White House meeting last week.
"Ms. Johnson has accepted responsibility for her past behavior and has been a model prisoner over the past two decades. Despite receiving a life sentence, Alice worked hard to rehabilitate herself in prison, and act as a mentor to her fellow inmates," the White House said in a statement. "While this Administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance."
Johnson's daughter Catina Scales told Business Insider the Wednesday afternoon she was en route to pick up her mother from the Aliceville correctional facility in Alabama, where Johnson was released.
"I have been literally shaking ever since I heard this news — this is the best present anyone could have gave me in my life," Scales said. "Nothing will ever trump this feeling."
Dinesh D'Souza
Trump granted an unexpected pardon to the conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza in May.
D'Souza pleaded guilty in 2014 to illegally using straw donors in 2012 to donate to a Republican Senate candidate in New York. He used the straw donors to funnel his funds to the candidate under their names to try and get around campaign finance laws.
Though D'Souza fully admitted to knowingly violating the law, he lashed out at prosecutors at the time, arguing he was being singled out because of his conservative beliefs.
Though he was spared prison time, D'Souza was sentenced to five years of probation and a $30,000 fine. A pardon relieved D'Souza of any remaining punishments stemming from his conviction, and would restore certain rights, such as his right to vote.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider