Celeb-connected, conservative causes receiving Trump pardons

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned a conservative commentator he claims “was treated very unfairly by our government!” and announced he’s thinking about clemency for Martha Stewart and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, among “lots” of other people.

“What they did to him was horrible,” Trump told reporters, speaking of his decision to clear the name of Dinesh D’souza, who had pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud.

It was the latest example of Trump trying to right a perceived wrong with his presidential pardon power, and a move that makes ever clearer that, in the Trump administration, the odds of a pardon have heavily favored those with a celebrity backer, those who have become a cause celebre among conservatives and those with a reality TV connection.

Trump has been particularly drawn to cases where he believes there was a political motivation to the prosecutions — a situation that may remind him of his own predicament at the center of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling, which he insists is nothing but a “witch hunt.”

On Thursday, Trump said he was seriously considering commuting the sentence of Blagojevich, the Democratic former governor serving a 14-year prison sentence on numerous counts of corruption, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by Barack Obama. The president also said he was considering a pardon for Stewart, the celebrity lifestyle guru who served a stint in federal prison after being convicted of charges related to a stock sale.