[ad_1]
Image posted, REUTERS, GETTY IMAGES
Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner
US President Donald Trump has issued new pardons including his 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and his former adviser Roger Stone, as well as Charles Kushner, father-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Manafort was convicted in 2018 as part of an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.
Trump had previously commuted his sentence to Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress.
Twenty-six people received a full pardon, while three others received reduced sentences, in recent Trump decisions, before he leaves office next month.
A reduced sentence generally equates to a reduced prison sentence, but does not nullify the conviction or indicate innocence.
A pardon conferred privileges such as restoring the right of a convicted person to vote or serve on a jury.
The clemency saved Manafort from serving most of his seven-year, six-month prison sentence on charges of financial fraud and conspiracy to obstruct the investigation.
Manafort had been serving his sentence at his home since he was released from federal prison in May due to fears of the coronavirus.
Manafort commented on Twitter: “Mr. President, my family and I humbly thank you for the presidential pardon you granted me. There are no words to express our full appreciation.”
Another pardon was granted to Charles Kushner, a real estate mogul and father of his adviser, Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump.
Kushner Sr., whose family owns a group of 20,000 properties, was sentenced to two years in prison in 2004 on charges including tax evasion, campaign finance offenses and witness tampering.
The witness tampering charge relates to Kushner Sr.’s retaliation against his son-in-law who was cooperating with the authorities against him. Kushner Sr. used a sex worker to seduce his son-in-law, and he recorded their encounter and sent it to his sister.
Image posted, Reuters
Manafort (center) with Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump
“This is one of the most disgusting and disgusting crimes” he has ever faced, Chris Christie, a former Trump adviser who incarcerated Kushner Sr. as a New Jersey attorney, told CNN.
This was the second wave of pardons issued by Trump in a few days. On Tuesday, the US president issued an amnesty for 15 people and commuted the sentences for another five.
Among them were two convicted in an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the US elections, as well as three former congressmen from the Republican Party and four “Blackwater” military contractors who participated in the 2007 massacre in Iraq.
And in November, Trump pardoned former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was found guilty during the investigation into the Russian intervention.
Flynn admitted to lying to the FBI, before attempting to retract his guilt.
The 22-month investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller found that Trump or his aides had conspired with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election in their favor.
Trump has criticized this investigation and has now pardoned five people who have been convicted during it.
