US President Donald Trump pardons former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, key ally Roger Stone, and Jared Kushner’s father

US President Donald Trump today issued pardons and commutation of sentences for 29 people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, his longtime ally Roger Stone and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law.

It brings to 49 the number of people Trump has granted clemency to in the past two days, either through pardons or commutations of sentence.

The Manafort and Stone pardons, whom Trump commuted sentence months earlier, underscore the president’s determination to use the power of his office in his final weeks to unravel the results of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and Reach out to associates who you believe were wrongly persecuted.

Yesterday, Trump pardoned two other people convicted in the Mueller investigation, including former campaign associate George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. He also pardoned former members of Congress who were early supporters and former government contractors convicted of the killing of Iraqi civilians.

Manafort had been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for financial crimes related to his work in Ukraine and was one of the first people charged as part of Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. He was released last May due to coronavirus concerns in the federal prison system.

Manafort, in a tweet, thanked Trump and praised the outgoing president, stating that history would show that he had accomplished more than any of his predecessors.

Charles Kushner is a wealthy real estate executive who pleaded guilty years ago to tax evasion and illegal campaign donations. Trump and the older Kushner knew each other in real estate circles, and their sons married in 2009.