Trump Rejected Nearly 6,000 Clemency Applications Amid Hope of Pardon Wave

The Trump administration has quietly rejected nearly 6,000 clemency applications, including thousands of requests for pardons and sentence commutations, based on Justice Department records. Although expectations had been raised for a significant wave of pardons to coincide with the country's 250th birthday, the president granted fewer than 20 on July 3. This action effectively ended hopes for mass July 4 pardons, as the vast majority of the applications were denied by the administration.