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Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by <a href="https://lipperalpha.refinitiv.com/" data-omtr-intcmp="topnav_more_refinitive_info">Refinitiv Lipper</a>. <br>Fox News' Brooke Singman provides details on President Biden's record-setting act of clemency.<br>West Virginia Democrats torched <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-sets-record-first-term-clemency-grants-heres-how-others-presidents-rank" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Biden’s choices</a> of last-minute executive clemency recipients, saying they would expect such actions from their rival, President-elect Trump.<br>In a statement released late Monday, local party leaders said they applauded Biden for leading the U.S. "through significant economic challenges" but blasted commutations being given to people convicted of public corruption.<br>"<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bidens-full-list-clemency-commutation-recipients-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Public corruption</a> is a betrayal of trust. When officials abuse the power of their office for personal gain, they not only harm the communities they are supposed to serve, but they also erode faith in our government institutions," wrote Chairman Mike Pushkin, a state lawmaker from Kanawha County.<br>"Even more troubling, these kinds of pardons are exactly what we would expect from President-elect Donald Trump, not President Biden."<br><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wv-lawmaker-arrested-after-threatening-kill-entire-regions-delegation-over-caucus-beef" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>WV LAWMAKER ARRESTED AFTER THREATENING TO KILL ENTIRE REGION'S DELEGATION OVER CAUCUS BEEF</strong></a><br><span>A welcome sign greets travelers leaving the East River Mountain tunnel on Interstate 77 near Princeton, West Virginia.</span> <span>(Fox News/Charles Creitz)</span><br>In a statement for the state party, Pushkin – a state delegate from Kanawha County – criticized Trump’s first-term pardons of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Gen. Michael Flynn, political strategist Stephen K. Bannon and ex-Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz.<br>"By following this same path, President Biden has legitimized the idea that public officials who violate their oaths of office are above the law," Pushkin said.<br>"Worse still, it will embolden Trump to issue even more pardons for political corruption if he returns to the White House."<br>Pushkin and other Democrats were particularly critical of Biden’s decision to pardon disgraced <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/pennsylvania-mother-infuriated-after-biden-commutes-sentence-kids-for-cash-judge-ruined-my-sons-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan</a>, the key figure in the "kids-for-cash" scandal.<br>Conahan was convicted of receiving kickbacks for sentencing young people to for-profit prisons.<br>Delegate Hollis Lewis, D-Charleston, told Fox News Digital he, too, took issue with Biden’s decision to give Conahan clemency.<br>"The one that got me upset was the judge who was involved in the cash-for-kids case," he said.<br>"Any time that you have individuals who prey on our most vulnerable population, which are children and the elderly, that's very problematic."<br><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dozens-states-lobby-epa-deny-california-waiver-forcing-out-of-state-trucks-comply-green-mandate" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><u>DOZENS OF STATES LOBBY EPA TO DENY CALIFORNIA WAIVER FORCING OUT OF STATE TRUCKS TO COMPLY WITH MANDATE</u></strong></a><br><span>Former Luzerne County Court Judges Michael Conahan, front left, and Mark Ciavarella, front right, leave the U.S. District Courthouse in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 15, 2009.</span> <span>(AP Photo)</span><br>Lewis said presidents of both parties have made questionable clemency choices, adding that a pardon is an important tool that has its place.<br>"I don't think anybody needs to walk around with a scarlet letter of a felony for a whole lot, depending on the particular crime that they committed if that part is going to allow them to move on with their lives," he said.<br>"But specifically when it's crimes involving the elderly… and children or crimes with patterns of violence where the evidence is clear and there's no reasonable doubt, then maybe we ought to think twice before we exonerate those individuals."<br>In its statement, the WVDP also criticized Biden’s clemency for ex-Dixon, Illinois Comptroller Rita Crundwell – punished for embezzling $54 million in the largest municipal fraud case in the country.<br>The third case mentioned involved Jimmy Dimora, a former county commissioner in Cleveland involved in a pay-to-play scheme.<br><a href="https://foxnews.com/download" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP</strong></a><br>Fox News Digital reached out to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who is now an Independent, but still caucuses with Democrats.<br>West Virginia previously found itself in the news during presidential pardon season, when former President Bill Clinton issued his widely-rebuked pardon of then-fugitive financier Marc Rich.<br>Rich had been accused of tax evasion and circumventing sanctions on Iran and apartheid South Africa.<br>However, Rich also had a stake in an aluminum manufacturer on the Ohio River when it was accused of locking out 1,500 workers and hiring scabs amid allegations such a move was illegal because the plant <a href="https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/entries/9" rel="nofollow">allegedly conducted</a> a lockout.<br>Members of the West Virginia union <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-marc-rich-got-around-sanctions-2013-6" rel="nofollow">reportedly picketed</a> in Switzerland in front of Rich’s office. <br>Clinton’s pardons of Rich and business partner Pincus Green earned him a federal investigation initially led by New York prosecutor Mary Jo White. <br>When White’s tenure ended in 2002, she was replaced by a young federal prosecutor whose name would resurface in another Clinton controversy many years later: James Comey.<br>Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. <br>He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. <br>Charles covers <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media" target="_blank">media</a>, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics" target="_blank">politics</a> and culture for Fox News Digital.<br>Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.<br>Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.<br>By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/privacy-policy">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/terms-of-use">Terms of Use</a>, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.<br>Subscribed<br> You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! <br> This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by <a href="https://www.factset.com/" data-omtr-intcmp="footer_factset">Factset</a>. 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