By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two men sentenced to prison as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, two former Republican lawmakers, and four security contractors convicted in the massacre of 14 Iraqi civilians were among 15 people granted full pardons by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
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Those pardoned by Trump are:
- Duncan Hunter, a former Republican congressman from California who pleaded guilty last year to misusing campaign funds. He was sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment set to begin in January 2021. - Chris Collins, a former Republican representative from New York who pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to commit securities fraud and making false statements to the FBI. Collins, who had been the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump’s candidacy in 2016, is serving his 26-month sentence.
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency
Today, President Donald J. Trump granted Full Pardons to 15 individuals and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional 5 individuals.
Alfonso Costa President Trump granted a full pardon to Alfonso Costa, a dentist from Pittsburgh. Dr. Costa’s request for clemency was supported by Dr. Ben Carson and Jerome Bettis, as well as by numerous business associates, patients, and community leaders from Pittsburgh. Dr. Costa pled guilty to one count of health care fraud related to false billing, took full responsibility for his conduct, served two years of probation, and paid nearly $300,000 in fines and restitution. He has devoted much of his adult life to service to his community, including serving on the board of the Pittsburgh Opera, and doing significant service for children and the underprivileged.
December 22, 2020 7:44 p.m.
President Trump went on pardon tear Tuesday night as his presidency wanes, with the White House announcing grants of clemency for key figures in the 2016 Russia investigation and for congressional allies of Trump who were prosecuted during his administration.
Trump granted a full pardon to his former 2016 campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who kickstarted the Russian investigation when he told a foreign diplomat about Russia’s efforts to dig up dirt on Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation for making false statements to the FBI. The former Skadden Arps lawyer Alexander van der Zwaan, who likewise pleaded guilty in Mueller’s probe, was granted a full pardon for lying to officials investigating his involvement in a 2012 a report that white-washed the prosecution of a Ukrainian official.
Sixty-eight years ago, Lee Crum got caught doing something fairly common in that time and place â making moonshine whiskey.
It s been weighing on him ever since â and it s why Tuesday s announcement that Crum was among 15 people pardoned by President Donald Trump means so much to him. I ve never been in trouble or spent a day in jail except for that, said Crum, a rural Muskogee County resident now well into his 80s. It s something I wanted to take care of before I go over the hill.
According to a White House summary of Crum s case, he was 19 when he and his wife s uncle were arrested in 1952. Oklahoma was dry at the time, and moonshining was a common side job.