Trump grants one pardon, mulls action on Blagojevich
President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s considering commuting the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of corruption, and pardoning lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart, who served a stint in federal prison after being convicted of charges related to a stock sale.
Hours earlier, Trump said on Twitter that he will pardon conservative commentator and Obama critic Dinesh D’Souza, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud. The White House announced later Thursday that the pardon had been granted.
As he left Washington to fly to Texas, Trump tweeted: “Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!” D’Souza, an outspoken critic of former President Barack Obama, had claimed that his prosecution by the Obama Justice Department was politically motivated, but the presiding federal judge said D’Souza had failed to prove it.
Trump later shared his thoughts on Blagojevich and Stewart with the reporters accompanying him on Air Force One. Both had connections to Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” reality television show: Blagojevich was a contestant in 2010 and Stewart hosted the 2005 spinoff series, “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.”
Blagojevich was convicted on numerous counts of corruption, including for trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by Obama and for shaking down a children’s hospital. As governor, he had the right to name someone to fill the Senate vacancy, but he was caught on FBI wiretaps discussing ways to make money off of it. He began serving a 14-year prison sentence in 2012 and is scheduled for release in 2024.
“What he did does not justify 18 years in jail,” Trump said. “If you read his statement, it was a foolish statement with a lot of bravado. Plenty of other politicians have said a lot worse. He’s a Democrat, he’s not in my party, but I thought he got treated unfairly.”
The Supreme Court has twice turned down appeals from Blagojevich, most recently in April. That appeal turned in part on the length of Blagojevich’s prison term. Trump’s Justice Department urged the court to reject the appeal.
Patti Blagojevich, the former governor’s wife, said she and the couple’s two children were “very encouraged” by Trump’s comments. “He’s given us something that has been hard to come by recently. Hope,” she said in a written statement.
Stewart was convicted in 2004 of obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she unloaded stock just before the price plummeted. She served five months in prison. Her representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I think to a certain extent Martha Stewart was harshly and unfairly treated. She used to be my biggest fan in the world,” Trump said.
The federal prosecutor who oversaw Stewart’s case in New York was James Comey, one of Trump’s principal antagonists and the man he fired as FBI director last year. The prosecutor who led the case against Blagojevich in Chicago was Patrick Fitzgerald, a Comey friend who is also his lawyer. Fitzgerald was also the special counsel leading the case against I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the Bush administration official pardoned by Trump last month.
Trump told reporters Thursday that no one asked him to pardon D’Souza, whose case had become a cause in conservative circles. Trump said he only knew D’Souza from TV and reading his works.