TRUMP PARDONS OBAMA CRITIC; MARTHA STEWART NEXT

WASHINGTON— Donald Trump pardoned a firebrand conservative author on Thursday and signaled that similar clemency could be on the way for lifestyle guru Martha Stewart.

Before pardoning Dinesh D’Souza, a critic of Barack Obama andHillary Clinton who was convicted of campaign finance violations, Trump tweeted that the author had been treated “very unfairly” by the government.

The US leader later said he was also considering commuting the jail sentence of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and Stewart, the celebrity chef jailed for five months in 2004-05 for perjury in an insider trading case.

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Stewart once hosted a spinoff version of Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice” while Trump noted that Blagojevich had appeared on the celebrity version of the show.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump complained that Stewart had been “harshly and unfairly treated.”

“And she used to be my biggest fan in the world … before I became a politician,” he said.

Trump has granted five pardons since taking office including to Joe Arpaio, a Trump supporter who was convicted of contempt of court for racially profiling Hispanics while serving as a sheriff in Arizona.

According to some political analysts, the pardons could be a signal to Trump allies who are currently facing charges or are under investigation.