Obama Vows To Defeat ISIS, Grants 95 Pardons & Commutations
At what is likely to be his last news conference of the year before leaving for a family Christmas vacation, President Obama on Friday vowed to destroy ISIS, reports NBC News.
“We’re going to defeat ISIS,” the president said.
He also announced plans to grant Christmastime clemency to 95 federal prisoners Friday, trimming their sentences under “an initiative to free prisoners sentenced under mandatory minimum prison terms. He also issued pardons to two others,” writes USA Today.
Per USA Today:
It was the largest single-day grant of clemency of Obama’s presidency. He has now commuted the prison sentences of 184 people, more than any president since Lyndon Johnson (226) and surpassing the combined number granted by presidents Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush (117).
Most of the commutations to shorter sentences dealt with drug offenses, but also included 15 gun crimes — usually while committing a drug offense — and one armed bank robbery. The two pardons involved counterfeiting and bank fraud.
Friday’s list included 40 people serving life sentences. Most will be released in April.
The president also vowed to have an active final year after serving two terms in office.
SOURCE: NBC News, USA Today | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Twitter
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