Fuller picture emerges of the 13 federal executions at the end of Trump’s presidency

By MICHAEL TARM
AP Legal Affairs Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — Fresh details have emerged about the 13 federal executions that were carried out in the final six months of Donald Trump’s presidency. The fuller picture reveals that officials cut corners and relied on a pliant Supreme Court to get all of the executions done before Trump left office. In a recent interview, celebrity attorney Alan Dershowitz told The Associated Press about a December 2020 phone call he made to Trump the day before the execution of inmate Brandon Bernard. Dershowitz says he implored Trump to to call off the execution, and that although Trump sounded sympathetic, he said there was nothing he could do because he’d already promised relatives of the victims that would not stop the execution.