President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will issue a full pardon to conservative activist Dinesh D'Souza.
"Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today," Trump tweeted, adding that D'Souza was treated unfairly by the government. "He was treated very unfairly by our government!"
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1002177521599860736
Back in 2014, D'Souza plead guilty to using straw donors to make $20,000 in illegal campaign donations to a Republican candidate in a senate race. A federal court sentenced D'Souza to five years probation. The FBI released a statement about the sentencing.
"Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that DINESH D’SOUZA was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to five years of probation, with eight months during the first year to be served in a community confinement center, after having pled guilty to violating the federal campaign election law by making illegal contributions to a United States Senate campaign in the names of others. D’SOUZA was sentenced today before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman," the statement said.
In the statement, D'Souza acknowledged he was violating the law.
"D’SOUZA also admitted that he knew that what he was doing was wrong and something the law forbids," the statement read.
The surprise pardon comes as the the Trump administration pushes criminal justice reform. On Wednesday, Trump met with Kim Kardashian to discuss prison and sentencing reform. Kardashian is advocating for a pardon for a low-level drug offender named Alice Marie Johnson, who has served more than 20 years in prison.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1001961235838103552
Earlier this month, Trump granted a posthumous pardon to Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, after he was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act, which forbade a person from transporting a woman across state lines for immoral reasons.
In addition to D'Souza, Trump has pardoned former Vice President Dick Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby and former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.