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Jonathan Braun has repeatedly been in legal trouble since President Trump commuted his federal prison sentence more than four years ago as part of a rushed, last-minute process of granting clemency to allies and well-connected special pleaders before leaving office.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Mr. Braun, a major player in the predatory lending business, was arrested on Long Island on charges of assaulting an acquaintance and his 3-year-old child, according to court documents. It was the fourth time he has been arrested since Mr. Trump freed him.<\/p>\n
Mr. Braun punched the man in the face and then shoved the child to the ground, \u201ccausing a red mark on his back and substantial pain\u201d to the child\u2019s back, the documents said. Mr. Braun was charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a child and injuring a child under the age of 7.<\/p>\n
He was released on bail Monday. Robert Caliendo, a lawyer for Mr. Braun, did not respond to messages seeking comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In his final hours in office in early 2021, Mr. Trump commuted Mr. Braun\u2019s 10-year sentence for running a marijuana smuggling ring. Mr. Braun\u2019s family used a connection<\/a> to Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump\u2019s son-in-law who served as a senior White House adviser, to try to get the matter before Mr. Trump. Jared Kushner\u2019s White House office drafted the language used to announce commutations for Mr. Braun and others.<\/p>\n Since then, Mr. Braun returned to predatory lending only to be banned from operating in that business by a New York State judge and a federal judge for engaging in deceptive practices. And he has been accused of a number of crimes: punching his wife and father-in-law in the head; grabbing a nanny\u2019s breast while touching himself; trying to assault a female nurse with poles used to hold intravenous bags; and threatening a synagogue congregant who asked him to be quiet during services.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know who I am or what I can do to you?\u201d Mr. Braun told the congregant, according to an affidavit the man signed.<\/p>\n Mr. Braun\u2019s conduct has focused attention on how Mr. Trump has used his clemency powers in both his first and second terms to benefit people<\/a> whose cases have often come to him apparently with little vetting. At least seven recipients of clemency from Mr. Trump during his first term have been charged with new crimes<\/a> since then.<\/p>\n In his second term, Mr. Trump has dismissed the U.S. pardon attorney in the Justice Department and consolidated review of pardon applications in the White House, setting off a scramble<\/a> from lawyers and lobbyists with connections to the administration to get the clemency applications of clients in front of Mr. Trump and his aides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Braun\u2019s repeated arrests also raise questions about the claims by Mr. Trump and his allies that he and his top political appointees in the Justice Department are uniquely positioned to stop violent crime and that his administration will stop at nothing to crack down on it.<\/p>\n