Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening announced 26 new pardons, including for longtime ally Roger Stone , former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner's father, Charles. The pardons extend Trump's streak of wielding his clemency powers for criminals who are loyalists, well-connected or adjacent to his family. Beyond the high-profile pardons, Trump also pardoned more than 20 other individuals , including those who had pleaded guilty to various cyber crimes, firearm possession and mail fraud. The Manafort and Stone pardons also play into Trump's crusade to undermine the findings of the Mueller investigation. Among the things Stone misled Congress about were his communications with Trump campaign officials -- communications that prosecutors said he had hidden out of his desire to protect Trump.

Source: CNN December 24, 2020 00:23 UTC