Jan 17, 2017

The big names from Obama's latest presidential pardons

Carolyn Kaster / AP

President Obama granted 209 commutations and 64 pardons on Tuesday as one of his final acts as president. This is a presidential tradition, and included some noteworthy names.

The big ones:

  • Chelsea Manning, who leaked classified information in the first big WikiLeaks dump. Manning's sentence was commuted. She'll go free in May.
  • Gen. James Cartwright, who talked to a New York Times reporter about cyberattacks on Iran.
  • Oscar Lopez, a Puerto Rican tied to a freedom-fighting (or terrorist) group whose bombing attacks targeted New York City and Chicago a few decades ago.

Lopez and Manning, in particular, benefited from elite support. A notable advocate for the release of Lopez was none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda, the playwright behind Hamilton.

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