President Trump announced Thursday that he will pardon Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative author and documentary filmmaker who pleaded guilty in 2014 to campaign finance fraud.
“Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!” Trump tweeted.
[Also read: Dinesh D’Souza to Preet Bharara after pardon: ‘Karma is a bitch’]
Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2018
The White House confirmed in a statement Trump issued a full pardon for D’Souza.
“Mr. D’Souza was, in the president’s opinion, a victim of selective prosecution for violations of campaign finance laws. Mr. D’Souza accepted responsibility for his actions, and also completed community service by teaching English to citizens and immigrants seeking citizenship,” the White House said. “In light of these facts, the President has determined that Mr. D’Souza is fully worthy of this pardon.”
The conservative author praised Trump’s pardon and blamed former President Barack Obama for his conviction.
“Obama & his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both,” D’Souza tweeted.
Obama & his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both
— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) May 31, 2018
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he has never met D’Souza, but called the conservative commentator Wednesday night to tell him he would be pardoned. Instead, the president said he has seen D’Souza on television.
“I’ve always felt he was very unfairly treated,” Trump said. “… What should have been a quick minor fine, like everybody else with the election stuff….what they did to him was horrible.”
D’Souza pleaded guilty in 2014 to a federal charge of making illegal campaign donations to the U.S. Senate campaign of a Republican candidate running in New York.
The conservative author directed his assistant and a woman he was romantically involved with to contribute to Republican Wendy Long’s campaign on behalf of themselves and their spouses for a combined $20,000 in contributions. The conservative filmmaker then reimbursed the two $10,000 each in cash for the donations to Long’s campaign.
Long challenged Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., for the Senate in 2012.
Prosecutors said D’Souza then misled Long about the contributions before coming clean.
During his sentencing, D’Souza avoided prison time. Instead, he was sentenced by a federal judge in Manhattan in September 2014 to five years of probation, which included eight months of living in a “community confinement center” in California. D’Souza was also required to pay a $30,000 fine.
So far in his presidency, Trump has pardoned Scooter Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney; Joe Arpaio, former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz.; and Kristian Saucier, a former Navy sailor sentenced to a year in prison for taking photos inside a nuclear submarine.
Last week, the president posthumously pardoned heavyweight champion Jack Johnson.
