On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump pardoned his former aide and chief strategist Steve Bannon and other allies, just hours before leaving the office.
According to the reports, President Donald Trump has pardoned more than 140 people, including Steve Bannon, as part of a flurry of clemency action in his White House term’s final hours. The last-minute clemency, announced on Wednesday morning, follows the other pardons he has issued over the last month for the people who were convicted in the FBI’s Russia investigation.
“President Donald J. Trump granted pardons to 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of an additional 70 individuals,” the White House said in a statement.
Steve Bannon was granted a pardon after he was charged with defrauding people over funds raised to build the Mexico border wall that was a flagship Trump policy.
Bannon, a Navy veteran, had worked at Goldman Sachs and as a producer before turning to politics. He was the chief of Breitbart News before being hired to lead Trump’s 2016 campaign in the final months.
“Mr Bannon has been an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen,” the statement added. Interestingly, the president and his children are not on the pardon list issued by the White House.
Trump aides, rap performer also have been pardoned
Former Trump fund-raiser Elliott Broidy has also been similarly pardoned, after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws.
Rapper Lil Wayne, who last month pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and faced 10 years in jail, was also in the pardon list. Ken Kurson, a friend of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, charged last year with cyberstalking during a divorce case, has also been pardoned.
Trump has already pardoned a number of long-time associates and supporters, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law and his long-time friend and adviser Roger Stone. Trump has also pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
