[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday granted a full pardon to George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide who pleaded guilty as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, 36, the Dutch son-in-law of Russian billionaire German Khan. Van der Zwaan was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $ 20,000 for lying to investigators under US special counsel Robert Mueller about contacts with an official in the Trump campaign in 2016.
Their names were included in a wave of pre-Christmas pardons announced by the White House. Trump granted full pardons to 15 people and partially or fully commuted the sentences of another five.
The list of pardons and commutations included three former Republican lawmakers. Former US service members Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, who were convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007, were also pardoned.
Papadopoulos, 33, was a Trump campaign adviser in 2016. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI agents about the timing and importance of his contacts with people who claimed to have ties to senior Russian officials.
“The defendant’s crime was serious and damaged the government’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” read a sentencing recommendation memorandum from then-US special counsel Robert Mueller.
He served 12 days of a 14-day sentence in federal prison, then was released on 12-month supervised release.
The White House said Papadopoulos was charged with “a trial-related crime, a count of making false statements,” as part of the Mueller investigation, which Trump had denounced as a witch hunt.
“Today’s forgiveness helps correct the evil that Mueller’s team inflicted on so many people,” the White House said.
The pardons were part of a series of such actions expected by the outgoing Republican president before Democratic president-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20. Trump, who has refused to budge, has made unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud and has pursued a series of unsuccessful trials to overturn the result.
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump was abusing power by issuing pardons, “to reward his friends and political allies, to protect those who lie to cover it up, to harbor those guilty of killing civilians and undermining an investigation that uncovered massive irregularities. “
Last month, Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation. Flynn’s pardon drew condemnation from Democrats and other critics.
In July, Trump commuted the sentence of longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone, saving him from jail after he was found guilty of lying under oath to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
FORMER LAWYERS
Three former Republican lawmakers, including former New York Rep. Chris Collins, also received pardons or a commutation of sentence Tuesday.
Collins, 70, had been the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump’s candidacy in 2016 and was a strong supporter of the president. He won reelection in 2018 but resigned the following year.
“In 2019, Collins pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and make false statements to the FBI. Collins is currently serving his 26-month sentence,” the White House said.
Trump also granted a full pardon to 44-year-old former Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, who pleaded guilty a year ago to a single count of conspiracy to convert campaign funds to personal use, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five. years in prison.
The president commuted the remaining prison term of former Republican Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas, 64, who was convicted in 2018 of embezzlement of charitable funds.
The White House said he had served more than two years of his 10-year sentence and would remain subject to a period of supervised release and an order requiring him to pay more.
$ 1 million in restitution.
Trump also commuted the remaining term of the supervised release of Crystal Munoz, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
Muñoz spent years in federal prison in Fort Worth, with Alice Johnson, who was granted clemency by Trump in 2018 in a case defended by reality star Kim Kardashian West.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney)
[ad_2]
