Thread: Trump says he’s considering pardoning Martha Stewart, Rod Blagojevich

Trump says he’s considering pardoning Martha Stewart, Rod Blagojevich

By Brooke Singman | Fox News
1 hour ago

President Trump said Thursday he was considering pardoning or commuting the sentence of Martha Stewart and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, following his announcement earlier in the day of a full pardon for conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza.

The president’s comments came during a gaggle with reporters on Air Force One enroute to Houston, Texas.

Trump called the former governor’s sentence on corruption charges “really unfair” and added that “plenty of other politicians could have said a lot worse.”

The president said that Blagojevich said something dumb, but that "lots of politicians" do.

The former Democratic governor, who was a contestant on Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" in 2010, began his 14-year prison sentence in 2012 after being convicted of corruption. Blagovich's scheduled release date is in 2024.

Trump suggested he was more interested in “curtailing his sentence” than a full pardon.

The president also said he would consider pardoning Stewart, saying she "used to be one of my biggest fans."

Stewart was convicted in 2004 of obstructing justice and lying to the government as part of an insider trading case. At the time, former FBI Director James Comey was the federal prosecutor who charged Stewart.

The president's comments come after an early morning tweet announcing that he would pardon D'Souza.

“Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!” the president tweeted Thursday morning.

D'Souza told Fox News he received a call from the president on Wednesday to notify him of the decision.

"I am thrilled and relieved and elated and as an immigrant in America, my American dream has been under something of a cloud, so I'm very relieved to have that cloud lifted," D'Souza told Fox News on Thursday.

D'Souza said he and Trump spoke for about 10 minutes, calling it a "very pleasant and very exciting call."

"President Trump told me he felt I had been treated very unfairly and he felt that I was an important voice for America," D'Souza said. "He wanted to clean my record and adhere to continue doing what I'm doing."

The conservative filmmaker had pleaded guilty in 2014 for donating $20,000 to New York politician Wendy Long, allegedly going over the contribution limit by directing other donors to give to her. He was sentenced to five years of probation and eight months in a halfway house, and paid a $30,000 fine.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...agojevich.html

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Trump considering pardon for Martha Stewart, commutation for Rod Blagojevich

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was considering a pardon for Martha Stewart.
The president also said that he was considering commuting the sentence of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The president earlier in the day announced that he would pardon conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza.

Tucker Higgins | Kevin Breuninger
Published 1 Hour Ago Updated 8 Mins Ago CNBC.com

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was considering a pardon for celebrity chef and television personality Martha Stewart, as well as commuting the sentence of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"I think to a certain extent Martha Stewart was harshly and unfairly treated," the president said while on a flight to Texas, explaining why she could be pardoned.

He also said that he believed Blagojevich was treated "unfairly," while noting that the Illinois politician is a Democrat.

"He shouldn't have been put in jail," the president said.

The president earlier announced that he would pardon conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza.

Stewart, who was convicted of multiple felony charges in 2004, was prosecuted by former FBI Director James Comey, and served five months in federal prison on charges related to a 2001 stock sale.

Comey was fired by Trump last year and has since become an outspoken critic of his administration.

Trump has shared mixed opinions about Stewart in the past.

In a 2006 letter to Stewart, the president blamed her for the poor ratings of NBC's "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," a spinoff of Trump's "The Celebrity Apprentice."

The next month, he said of Stewart: "She's a wonderful woman."

Years later, in a 2013 tweet, Trump wrote: "She looks terrific, better than ever, any guy would be lucky to be with her."

Patrick Fitzgerald, a personal friend of James Comey, oversaw the prosecution of Blagojevich on public corruption charges in 2011. Fitzgerald joined Comey's legal team following the former FBI director's firing last year.

Blagojevich is in the sixth year of a 14-year sentence in Colorado prison. The Illinois Democrat was found guilty of attempting to trade the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama for money or favors.

"I am seriously thinking about – not pardoning – but I am seriously thinking of a curtailment of Blagojevich," the president said Thursday, before a reporter offered the word "commutation."

In a statement, the former governor's wife, Patti Blagojevich, said the president's comments were encouraging.

"[Trump has] given us something that has been hard to come by recently…hope," she said. "From the beginning, we've eagerly awaited the day when Rod could come back home where he belongs, and we continue to pray our family will be made whole again soon."

Blagojevich also has a connection to Trump's "The Celebrity Apprentice," appearing on she show in Spring 2010. Trump noted that Blagojevich was on the show "for a short time" in his remarks about the potential commutation.

Representatives for Stewart did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/31/trum...rosecuted.html