Former White House adviser Steve Bannon
On his last day in office, President Trump, as expected, granted mass pardons to dozens of people, including his former campaign secretary and former White House adviser Steve Bannon.
Other Trump pardons include Eliott Broidy, a leading Republican fundraiser who was indicted last fall as an “unregistered foreign agent” and pleaded guilty to accepting millions of dollars in large sums of money to assist foreign governments in lobbying the Trump administration. As well as former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was sentenced to 28 years in prison on fraud charges, and rapper Lil Wayne.
Overall, Trump granted pardons to a total of 73 people convicted of federal crimes and commuted the criminal sentences of 70 others.
One of the most high-profile targets was Bannon, the former head of Breitbart, a conservative news site, who pleaded not guilty to charges that he and three others used online fundraising for personal expenses in the “We Build The Wall” project to build the U.S. southern border wall.
Bannon was released on bail for more than $5 million, and when he was arrested, Trump expressed regret and said he had not been in touch with him for a long time.
The New York Times reported that the White House had intended to announce the pardon list earlier on the 19th, but there were delays as people discussed whether to pardon Bannon.
Another thing of note is that Trump has not pardoned himself or his relatives, as there has been speculation that he would do. According to Reuters, Trump had intended to do so, but was eventually dissuaded by his legal team.
Recent Comments