Could Derek Chauvin be pardoned? Conservative commentator launches effort to petition Trump

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has publicly called for the president to pardon former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for federal crimes related to George Floyd’s 2020 death – drawing derision from the Minnesota attorney general who helped put Chauvin in prison but amplification from one of Trump’s most powerful advisers.

Shapiro’s proposal could spring to mind several questions, including: “Could a president do that?” (Answer: Yes); and, “What would it matter, since Chauvin also is in prison on state charges?” (Answer: It’s complicated).

Shapiro’s effort to solicit a pardon for Chauvin, a White man convicted of murdering a Black man in a case that sparked massive nationwide protests over the way police treat people of color, comes amid the Trump administration’s efforts...