President Donald Trump said late Monday that he was issuing a “very, very important” pardon today, which sparked all kinds of joke theories about who this mystery person could be.
But all of the absurd speculation was for not: Trump announced on Tuesday morning that he would pardon Susan B. Anthony, the woman’s suffrage leader, who was arrested in 1872 for violating men-only voting laws.
The president’s remarks last night while on Air Force One about a “very, very important person” getting a pardon set off a bunch of speculation beforehand.
Trump immediately scratched off two people who probably would have been near the top of the list of possible pardons, according to pool reports.
Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor who was wrapped up in the Muller probe, and Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor and whistleblower who leaked documents that highlighted the country’s massive surveillance capabilities, would not be getting a pardon, Trump told reporters.
There has been speculation recently that Trump is considering a pardon of Snowden—which has rankled at least one conservative lawmaker—after he said he would “take a very good look at” a pardon for the whistleblower and that “there are a lot of people that think he is not being treated fairly.”
Last month, the president also commuted the sentence of Roger Stone, his long-time adviser, who was convicted for lying to lawmakers as part of the Russia probe.
With two strong guesses off the board before Trump’s announcement on Tuesday morning, people on Twitter began joking—and making serious guesses—about who this “very, very important” person would be.
A lot of people jumped to Joe Exotic.
Other guesses were all over the place.
Trump made the official announcement of Anthony’s pardon this morning at the White House.