Methodology

Every clemency record on PardonInfo starts from the warrant. The Office of the Pardon Attorney's lists give us names, dates, and actions; the Federal Register gives us proclamation text from 1936 onward; the National Archives (RG 204) gives us pre-1893 records.

We then join those records to FEC donor history, Senate LDA / House Clerk LD-2 lobbying disclosures, FARA filings, federal court dockets, BOP inmate locator data, and contemporaneous press records. Joins are surfaced on the recipient page so anyone can audit the underlying documents.

AI-generated summaries are clearly labeled and cached server-side; they are derived from the structured factual record, never from editorial inference.

Our editorial principles:

• Lead with the warrant.
• Link primary sources on first mention.
• Use precise terminology (pardon vs commutation vs remission vs reprieve).
• Quote public statements verbatim with date and outlet.
• Show timelines; let readers draw conclusions.