WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump granted pardons to two people linked to a probe into alleged collusion between his campaign and Russia along with a list of others.
The moves come as the outgoing Republican continues to refuse to concede defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in the November election.
They add to pardons already issued to political allies of Trump, due to leave office on Jan 20.
The White House said in a statement that Trump had granted full pardons to 15 people and commuted all or part of the sentences for five others.
A full pardon was given to George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser who admitted lying to federal investigators about his contacts with Russians.
Papadopoulos was a member of Trump’s foreign policy advisory panel when he ran for president in 2016.
He pleaded guilty in October 2017 to lying to the FBI about contacts with a professor who promised to connect him to senior Russian officials.
He cooperated with investigators led by Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor who conducted a two-year probe into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Papadopoulos spent 12 days in jail after his guilty plea.
“Today’s pardon helps correct the wrong that Mueller’s team inflicted on so many people,” the White House statement said.
Another full pardon was granted to Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who was also convicted in connection with Mueller’s probe.
Full pardons were also granted to four Blackwater security guards convicted over the 2007 killing of Iraqis.
The four guards for the Blackwater security firm convicted over the 2007 shootings included Nicholas Slatten, who had been sentenced to life.
They were convicted of opening fire in Baghdad’s crowded Nisur Square on Sept 16, 2007 in a bloody episode that caused an international scandal and heightened resentment of the American presence.
The shooting left at least 14 Iraqi civilians dead and 17 wounded while perpetuating the image of US security contractors run amok.
The Blackwater guards said they acted in self-defense in response to insurgent fire.
The White House statement said the four men, former members of the military, “have a long history of service to the nation.”
The pardons included former Republican Representatives Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York. Trump commuted the sentence of former Representative Steve Stockman of Texas.
Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Trump to be president, was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison after admitting he helped his son and others dodge US$800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had failed.
Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds and spending the money on everything from outings with friends to his daughter’s birthday party. — NNN-AGENCIES
