Ravens Insider: After former Ravens RB Jamal Lewis’ pardon, Olszewski’s reform plan gains support

[ExtremeRavens]

WASHINGTON — The Ravens flock rejoiced when former running back Jamal Lewis received a pardon from President Donald Trump. But Rep. Johnny Olszewski Jr. instead saw another example of why the pardon process needs reform.

“Anytime where what was meant to be a tool of justice and mercy gets perverted into something that rewards just the rich and powerful, it demands that we do something about it,” Olszewski, a Democrat representing Baltimore and Carroll counties, told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday.

Olszewski, a devout Ravens fan, didn’t take issue with Lewis’ pardon, specifically. But he saw a continued theme of the rich, the powerful and the prominent benefiting from the president’s pardon power — a problem that has existed through several presidencies, he said.

It’s why the freshman lawmaker introduced a constitutional amendment that would give a supermajority of Congress the power to overturn presidential pardons. His effort gained an important supporter this week: Republican Rep. Don Bacon.

“Don Bacon and I share the notion that no one should be above the law in our country and that upholding our justice system and the rule of law is not a partisan issue,” Olszewski said. “We should not allow examples where the elite, the wealthy, and the well-connected are allowed to avoid accountability while the rest of us are left behind.”

As a moderate who has frequently split with the president, Bacon gives the amendment an advocate on the right.

“Frankly, it is clear to me the pardon authority has been abused,” Bacon, of Nebraska, said in a statement. “I’m pleased to cosponsor Rep. Olszewski’s Pardon Integrity Act, a constitutional amendment that establishes a narrow, commonsense guardrail that preserves the pardon power while ensuring Congress can fulfill its constitutional role to provide accountability and uphold the rule of law.”

Pardons are the responsibility of the president, as enshrined in the Constitution. But that authority has been under the microscope since the end of President Joe Biden’s administration, when he pardoned his son, Hunter Biden. Hunter was convicted on federal charges of lying when purchasing a gun and pleaded guilty to multiple tax offenses in 2024. Biden said in June of that year that he wouldn’t pardon his son.

The scrutiny intensified when Trump pardoned over 1,500 people connected to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Dozens had criminal records. One was arrested last August on charges of child abuse. He was convicted on Feb. 11 and faces life in prison.

The president also commuted and pardoned a string of high-profile cases involving people who were convicted of white-collar crimes. Among them were former Rep. George Santos, who was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance. Zhao served prison time after failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to crimes. He was also a supporter of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency endeavors.

The administration’s merciful disposition toward white-collar criminals has forgiven about $1.56 billion in financial penalties, according to Liz Oyer, the former United States Pardon Attorney under Biden.

Trump also pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. In 2024, Hernández was sentenced to 45 years in prison for taking part in a drug trafficking operation that flooded America with hundreds of tons of cocaine.

Have a news tip? Contact Ben Mause at bmause@baltsun.com.

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