| Updated January 20, 2021
President Donald Trump pardoned his longtime adviser Steve Bannon late Tuesday night, freeing Bannon from a possible conviction in federal court for his role in a coordinated fleecing of the president’s most loyal supporters. Bannon faced multiple fraud counts in the Southern District of New York following an August indictment for allegedly stealing funds from a charity he controlled, which purported to raise money to help build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.
The news was first reported by The New York Times.
Like no president in American history, Trump has issued a wave of pardons for friends and key supporters, even when in many cases their guilt was not in doubt and when the White House can claim no broader miscarriage of justice. The law, in Trump’s presidency, simply does not apply to his allies.