Donald Trump is barely out the door of the White House, but at least one of his kids is apparently planning for a political return to Washington. That child, it should surprise exactly no one to learn, is favorite daughter Ivanka Trump. It was an unconventional move, of course, when both Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, secured jobs working in her father’s administration.
While many questioned her qualifications for nabbing such a prominent role, the Trump family has continually praised Ivanka and the work they claim she has accomplished. To that end, per a recent Vanity Fair article, we’re learning that apparently Ivanka played a large role in helping secure presidential pardons during Trump’s final days in office — and her involvement was yet another calculated step for her political comeback in the future.
The article quotes sources at Axios who noted that before her father’s term ended, Ivanka “attended multiple Oval Office meetings and made calls from empty offices in the West Wing” and pushed for over 140 pardons and commutations as part of her plan for “political reemergence.”
But she didn’t stop there. On the night before Joe Biden was inaugurated, she reportedly “stayed at the White House until roughly 8:30 p.m. … wrangl[ing] over controversial eleventh-hour pardons.” We all already know that Steve Bannon got one of those pardons; other white-collar criminals Ivanka reportedly lobbied for: Kyle Kimoto, who was convicted for a $43 million telemarketing scam; and Chalana McFarland, who was convicted for money laundering, bank and wire fraud, and other financial crimes.
And if you’re wondering just how much of a role Ivanka actually had behind the scenes, the Washington Post notes that while White House counsel Pat Cipollone “officially ran [that] process…Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner served as key gatekeepers.”
Additionally, the outlet noted that Ivanka prioritized “those with personal connections to the White House — or the money to pay someone with those connections” as opposed to “low-level offenders who had waited years after filing petitions through the Justice Department.”
All of this, it seems, is because Ivanka isn’t done with politics yet. As Vanity Fair’s Bess Levin wrote, “The former first daughter apparently still believes she has a bright political future, and that people would agree if only they knew about all of the good work she allegedly did securing pardons for the poor and downtrodden from her father.”
So there you go. Ivanka Trump, champion of the little people.