Kwame Kilpatrick (Twitter photo)
By Nancy Derringer
It's as though President Trump's previous, unorthodox pardons were a tease, and Kwame Kilpatrick just called his bluff.
"By God’s grace, I have received a pardon from Him, through Christ Jesus. I pray that I will receive the opportunity for Pardon/Clemency from the President Donald J. Trump as well," reads a post on the Free Kwame Project Facebook page.
In a lengthy post on the project's main website, the former Detroit mayor, now serving a 28-year sentence for public corruption, lays out the facts of his life behind bars, and finally, like a good salesman, puts the ask right on the table:
I am ready (mentally, emotionally, spiritually) to go home!
...Yes, I have made some very bad decisions in my life. Yes, I betrayed my wife and family because of my own lust and sin. Yes, I failed to deliver on the promises and opportunities that was given to me by the people of Detroit, Michigan. And yes, I have been severely punished for it.
My family has forgiven me. I have asked the people of the city of Detroit for forgiveness many times. And most Detroiters have forgiven me as well.
Our country has always been the land of 2nd Chances! I am hoping, confidently expecting, that I will have the opportunity to boldly move into the next season of my life; outside of these prison walls. Also, that I will have the opportunity to help someone else get off the floor of despair, failure, brokenness and calamity…then walk courageously, confidently, and powerfully into their own new season, their own destiny.
Trump has shown an apparent delight in his pardon power, touching his magic make-it-all-go-away wand on Joe Arpaio, Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Dinesh D'Souza, among others. Could Kwame be the next in line?
No one with a lick of sense would put it past him, as we long ago passed through the looking glass, and in fact, the looking glass has been ground to dust underfoot.
Stay tuned.
