Eighty-five percent of the people granted pardons or clemency this year by President Donald Trump are white, and Jan. 6 defendants made up 90% of those who benefited, according to a new report compiled by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a vocal advocate for criminal justice reform. Five percent ar e Latino and another 8% are Black, according to the report, which was first shared with NBC News. Comparing these statistics against the makeup of the general federal prison population, Pressley’s report notes that a quarter of that population is white, 36% Hispanic and 34% Black. “Donald Trump’s use of clemency and pardons has neglected many of the most marginalized and impacted communities,” her office said in a statement accompanying the report. “What this report illustrates is that Donald Trump has neglected to use the powerful tool of clemency to benefit those who need it the most,” Pressley said in an interview. NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment. The report, titled “Trump’s Clemency Gap,” outlines the president’s other uses of his pardon power, with a particular emphasis on “who has benefited and who has been left behind.” The 19-page document was based on all publicly reported federal clemency actions taken from Jan. 20 through Dec. 5, as detailed in White House announcements, Justice Department records, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, academic research institutions and news reports. Trump has aggressively used his pardon power during his second term in the White House, most notably granting blanket clemency to roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Jan. 6 defendants collectively make up 90% of the more than 1,700 people granted pardons or clemency since Jan. 20, according to Pressley’s report. Pressley’s office found that just nine clemency actions benefited people convicted of drug offenses, out of a total of more than 60,000 people in prison for such crimes. The report highlights one notable exception: Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted by an American jury of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and sentenced to 45 years behind bars. In a post on social media in late November, Trump said that, “according to many people that I greatly respect,” Hernández was “treated very harshly and unfairly.” The report states that roughly $1.4 billion in restitution and fines were lost as a result of Trump’s clemency grants, citing a House Democratic memorandum released in June. “Trump has used his clemency authority to absolve $1.4 billion, allowing people to profit from their crimes and costing the federal government money that could have been put toward public goods, restorative justice programs, and more,” the report says in part. Pressley’s office did not compile a report on former President Joe Biden’s pardon and commutation record, a spokeswoman confirmed. In an email, Pressley’s office said she has been a “steadfast champion of clemency reform” under multiple administrations. Biden issued the most individual pardons and commutations of any president in U.S. history. He set the record for the largest single-day act of clemency a few days before leaving office, commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. He courted controversy by pardoning his son Hunter Biden. Pressley, a progressive who has represented Massachusetts ’ 7th Congressional District since 2019, separately sent a letter to Alice Johnson, the Trump administration’s “pardon czar,” urging her to “prioritize clemency for those who have been disproportionately harmed by systemic injustices.” “Pardons and commutations have the power to transform people’s lives. It should not be limited to wealthy people and political allies,” she wrote. Johnson became a key advocate for criminal justice reform after Trump commuted her life sentence during his first term. By then, she had served more than 21 years of a life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. Kim Kardashian, the reality television star, had lobbied the White House for her release. “Your own personal story is a powerful testament to the importance of granting clemency to those directly harmed by systemic injustices,” Pressley said to Johnson in the letter, according to a copy shared with NBC News. Erik Ortiz contributed. ...read more read less