Dinesh D’Souza, the conservative pundit, and filmmaker who produced the film 2016: Obama’s America is being granted a full pardon by President Trump.
D’Souza had pleaded guilty in federal court to using a “straw donor” to make campaign contributions on his behalf to exceed contribution limits in 2014.
Donors rarely face charges for such violations, and the investigation into D’Souza’s actions was widely seen as a political witchhunt.
President Trump agreed, announcing Thursday morning that he will receive a full pardon.
Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2018
D’Souza avoided jail time when he was sentenced in 2014 but was confined for 8 months in a halfway house, given five years probation, and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine.
His lawyer argued that the government “targeted” D’Souza “because of his consistently caustic and highly publicized criticism” of President Obama.
He filed court papers at the time claiming his client was “selectively targeted for felony prosecution because of his outspoken, vigorous and politically controversial criticism and condemnation” of the president and his administration.
In announcing the pardon, Trump seems to be siding with that notion, indicating D’Souza “was treated very unfairly by our government!”
Well deserved, Mr President
— Jack Posobiec🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) May 31, 2018
Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, was fired by the President after refusing to resign as Trump transitioned into his role in the White House.
D’Souza claimed case files also show the Obama-era attorney sought prosecution for political reasons.
“There’s evidence in this case file, and there’s a lot more, that this was a political prosecution conducted by Bharara as a henchman for the Obama administration,” he said.
As an ironic side note, and probably very much by accident, this pardon may pave the way for Rosie O’Donnell to defend her own actions in violating campaign contributions. (RELATED: Rosie O’Donnell’s Excuse for Illegal Campaign Contributions Collapses).
Earlier this year, it was revealed that she likely broke Federal Election Commission rules by donating more than the maximum personal amount allowed per election ($2,700) to “at least five Democratic federal candidates.”
It’d be awfully difficult to pardon D’Souza then investigate O’Donnell for the same violation.
Do you support Trump’s pardon of Dinesh D’Souza? Share your thoughts below!
Source: CNN
