Child rape convict's sister Nicki Minaj gets into Trump’s close circle, but can the US president pardon him?

Rapper Nicki Minaj joined US President Donald Trump at a Michigan rally on Sunday, October 25, to cheer for Republicans ahead of the nationwide midterm elections. During her speech, she said, “We want our children to grow up in a place where we can proud of, we don’t want our children to be bombarded with sex changes, right?”

Minaj, a long-time supporter of the 80-year-old President, has touted herself as Trump's “number one fan” earlier. However, the Super Bass singer won't be able to vote in the election as she is not a US citizen.

Nicki Minaj was brought to US as an illegal immigrant

In 2018, she revealed that she was brought to the US as an “illegal immigrant” from Trinidad and Tobago when she was 5 years old. And in January this year, she showed a Trump gold card. Her citizenship paperwork, she said on social media, was being finalized.

“Residency? Residency? The cope is coping. ... Finalizing that citizenship paperwork as we speak as per MY wonderful, gracious, charming, President,” the 43-year-old rapper wrote at that time. “Thanks to the petition. ... I wouldn’t have done it without you. Oh CitizenNIKA you are thee moment. Gold Trump card free of charge.”

Brother’s conviction

But Minaj, with all her closeness, is being questioned again with a longstanding issue involving her brother, a child rape convict. People on social media started to wonder whether President Trump has the final say in pardoning him.

Jelani Maraj, the brother of rapper Nicki Minaj, was sentenced in 2020 to 25 years to life in prison for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl at his home in Long Island.

“Maraj was convicted back in November 2017 of predatory sexual assault against a child,” and endangering her welfare, NBC News reported in 2020.

Can Trump pardon him?

No. Trump cannot pardon Maraj for this conviction because it was a New York state case, not a federal offense.

As per the Justice Department, “the President’s clemency power is conferred by Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which provides: ‘The President . . . shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.’”

The department further states that the President’s authority is limited to federal offenses and offenses prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in the name of the United States in the D.C. Superior Court. “An offense that violates a state law is not an offense against the United States,” it says, adding that under 28 C.F.R. § 1.4, petitions for executive clemency shall relate only to violations of laws of the United States.

A person seeking a pardon or commutation for a state offense must instead approach the authorities of the state where the conviction occurred, typically the governor or a state board of pardons and/or paroles, if such a board exists.