To the editor: Former President Trump did a lot of things that were terrible, but none was as disturbing to me as his pardon of a man who paid to have his daughter accepted to USC under false pretenses.
It's amazing what a person can buy with $50,000. Other parents who also paid to have their children accepted to USC went to prison or were fined for using their wealth and lies to step ahead of students who were actually qualified to attend.
The fact that the pardon was backed by several businesspeople who were financial supporters of Trump is yet another example of people being able to buy their way out of almost any crime. We had a president who supported the fraud in this case by pardoning the perpetrator.
Karla H. Edwards, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: Pardon me, but Trump's pardon of his former campaign manager Stephen K. Bannon may actually further endanger him.
The pardon serves to deprive Bannon of any 5th Amendment shelter against testifying and possible self-incrimination for past conduct, thereby eliminating a justification for him not testifying against himself or Trump.
Any post-pardon false testimony he might give to aid Trump would open him up to new charges of perjury. Refusals to testify would place him in contempt and result in incarceration.
Conversely, Trump's decision not to pardon family members or his attorney Rudy Giuliani allows them to use their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination to refuse to testify against Trump at the risk of incriminating themselves. For once, Trump may have received some good legal advice from a "real" lawyer.
Les Weinstein, Los Angeles
The writer is a former Department of Justice attorney.
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To the editor: Trump can be proud of himself for committing one last con job on a portion of his supporters — those persons whom he incited to storm the Capitol but did not receive a pardon for doing so.
Robert Corsun, Sherman Oaks
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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