Joe Exotic could be a step closer to clawing out of his cage.
President Trump on Wednesday said he’ll examine a request for a pardon from Joe “Exotic” Maldonado-Passage, the star of the hugely popular Netflix series “Tiger King.”
“I’ll take a look,” Trump told a Post reporter when asked about the case and his son’s support for a pardon during a White House briefing.
The president’s eldest son has joked about lobbying for his father to pardon Maldonado-Passage, a kooky former roadside zookeeper serving a 22-year prison sentence for orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot targeting animal-rights activist Carole Baskin.
“Which son? Must be Don — what did he do?” Trump said of Donald Trump, Jr. and then asked about Maldonado-Passage.
“I know nothing about it … he has 22 for what? What did he do?” Trump asked.
After the reporter explained what the “big cat” enthusiast was in for, Trump asked: “Do you think he didn’t do it?”
“Are you on his side? Are you recommending a pardon?”
He then polled the other journalists in the room asking, “Would you recommend a pardon?”
Maldonado-Passage issued a call for a pardon from Trump and announced a $94 million lawsuit against the federal government March 19 on his Facebook page.
David Adams
Article URL : https://nypost.com/2020/04/08/donald-trump-on-joe-exotic-pardon-ill-take-a-look/