Washington, Dec. 24, (dpa/GNA) – Outgoing US President Donald Trump issued 26 full pardons on Wednesday, including for two of his top 2016 campaign aides – Roger Stone and Paul Manafort.
Manafort, the former manager of Trump’s election campaign, was convicted of tax and banking crimes.
Stone was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering during the probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.
Trump had already commuted Stone’s more than three-year sentence in July, but issued an unconditional pardon for him on Wednesday.
He also pardoned his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, a property tycoon who has already served his sentence for tax crimes. The pardon will wipe his conviction from the record.
Outgoing US presidents commonly issue pardons in their final weeks in office. Trump is due to leave office on January 20.
Wednesday’s announcement marks the second round of pardons and commutations this week.
On Tuesday he issued 15 pardons, including for his former campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who had been convicted of making false statements in the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
Trump in November pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contact with a Russian official.
GNA