President Trump issues 73 pardons, 70 commutations
As one of his final acts in the White House, President Trump granted clemency to more than 100 people. This included those who spent years behind bars for low-level offenses, two well known rap artists and political allies.
FILE – In this Aug. 20, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, speaks with reporters in New York after pleading not guilty to charges that he ripped off donors to an online fundraising scheme to build a southern border wall. AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)
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UPDATED 9:08 AM PT – Wednesday, January 20, 2021
As one of his final acts in the White House, President Trump granted clemency to more than 100 people. This included those who spent years behind bars for low-level offenses, two well known rap artists and political allies.
Senior administration officials said the President pardoned former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon Tuesday, after hours of careful consideration. The 67-year-old was charged last year with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering after soliciting donations to support the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The campaign, known as We Build the Wall, raised more than $25 million from hundreds of thousands of donors. In a 23 page indictment, however, prosecutors claimed Bannon kept a substantial amount of the money for himself.
“I haven’t been dealing with him at all…this is for government not private people and it sounded to me like showboating,” President Trump previously stated. “I didn’t like it…it was showboating, maybe looking for funds.”
Officials have said Bannon and the President have since rekindled ties.
Meanwhile, rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black also received reprieve. While Lil Wayne was facing a sentence for felony gun possession, Kodak Black had served half of his 46-month prison sentence for making a false statement on a federal document.
This combination of images shows Lil Wayne performing during Hot 97’s “Busta Rhymes & Friends: Hot For The Holidays” in Newark, N.J. on Sept. 13, 2016, left, and Kodak Black at the MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. on Aug. 27, 2017. (AP Photo)
The list went on to name Anthony Levandowski who was sentenced to 18-months in prison for stealing proprietary information on self-driving cars while employed at Google. His pardon was supported by more than a dozen people in the industry. Levandowski’s sentencing judge also notably described him as a “brilliant, groundbreaking engineer that this country needs.”
President Trump said he will not be pardoning himself, his family or his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.