President
Donald Trump pardoned 15 people and commuted the sentences of an additional five people on Tuesday (December 22). The biggest name to receive a presidential pardon was former Trump campaign advisor
George Papadopoulos, who was convicted of making false statements to investigators during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference.
Alex van der Zwaan, who also pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, received a pardon as well.
Duncan Hunter, a former GOP congressman from California and a Trump ally, was also pardoned after pleading guilty to misusing campaign funds last December.
Chris Collins, who was the first sitting Republican lawmaker to endorse President Trump, was pardoned after receiving 26 months in jail for securities fraud.
Donald Trump Pardons Fifteen Americans Including George Papadopoulos
President Donald Trump pardoned fifteen Americans Tuesday night, including his former campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos.
Papadopoulos was charged with one count of making false statements during Special Counsel Robert Muller’s investigation into accusations of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia.
“Notably, Mueller stated in his report that he found no evidence of collusion in connection with Russia’s attempts to interfere in the election,” the statement from the White House read. “Nonetheless, the Special Counsel’s team still charged Mr. Papadopoulos with this process-related crime.”
The president also issued a pardon to Alex van der Zwaan in connection with Mueller’s investigation, as he was also charged with a process-related crime of making false statements.
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Trump grants clemency to three ex-GOP members of Congress and two men convicted in the Russia probe
Rosalind S. Helderman, Matt Zapotosky and Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post
Dec. 22, 2020
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File photo of U.S. President Donald Trump from December 12, 2020.Al Drago/Getty Images
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump granted clemency on Tuesday to 20 people, including three former Republican members of Congress and two people who were convicted of crimes as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
He also pardoned four military contractors convicted of killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007, and extended clemency to several people convicted of drug offenses, including some who had already benefited from initial commutations.
Susan Walsh / AP
Update at 2 a.m. ET Wednesday
Perpetrators of a massacre, perjurers, corrupt politicians, money launderers, nonviolent convicted drug dealers and a 1950s moonshine-maker are among those whom President Trump granted clemency on Tuesday, ahead of the Christmas holiday.
In all, Trump granted full pardons to 15 individuals and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional five.
Among the high-profile pardons are three former Republican members of Congress, including Duncan Hunter, who pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds; Trump also singled out George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser who was charged in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller s Russia investigation; four Blackwater mercenaries who were convicted for killing civilians in Iraq; and two Border Patrol agents who attempted to cover up their shooting of a Mexican national fleeing arrest.
President
Donald Trump pardoned 15 people and commuted the sentences of an additional five people on Tuesday (December 22). The biggest name to receive a presidential pardon was former Trump campaign advisor
George Papadopoulos, who was convicted of making false statements to investigators during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference.
Alex van der Zwaan, who also pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, received a pardon as well.
Duncan Hunter, a former GOP congressman from California and a Trump ally, was also pardoned after pleading guilty to misusing campaign funds last December.
Chris Collins, who was the first sitting Republican lawmaker to endorse President Trump, was pardoned after receiving 26 months in jail for securities fraud.