Donald Trump pardons Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner's father
Roger Stone, a former campaign adviser for President Donald Trump, has been granted a pardon. (AP: Andrew Harnik)
US President Donald Trump has pardoned his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
Mr Trump issued pardons for 29 people, including Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as his associate Roger Stone.
Mr Trump's pardoning of Mr Manafort spared the long-time Republican operative from serving the bulk of his seven-and-a-half-year prison term.
Mr Manafort, 70, was among the first in the President's inner circle to face charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Paul Manafort (C) was one of the key early figures in Donald Trump's 2016 campaign until he was forced to resigned over ties to Ukraine. (Reuters: Rick Wilking)
The Manhattan district attorney's office, which has been trying to prosecute Mr Manafort in New York for mortgage fraud and other alleged crimes, said it would continue to pursue an appeal for its case, which was dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.
"This action underscores the urgent need to hold Mr Manafort accountable for his crimes against the people of New York as alleged in our indictment, and we will continue to pursue our appellate remedies," office spokesman Danny Frost said.
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and leading Democrat Adam Schiff condemned the pardon.
"Trump's pardon now completes the corrupt scheme," he tweeted.
"Lawless until the bitter end."
Pardons target those with personal connections to President
US political consultant Roger Stone has described himself as a "dirty trickster". (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)
The President commuted Mr Stone's prison sentence in July, a day before he was due to begin serving a prison term of three years and four months.
Mr Stone was convicted in November 2019 by a Washington jury of lying under oath to Congress also investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
During his trial, prosecutors said Mr Stone lied to members of Congress about reaching out to WikiLeaks — the website that disclosed many hacked Democratic emails ahead of the 2016 US election — and that he did so to protect Mr Trump from looking bad.
Mr Kushner, father of the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty in 2004 to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and making unlawful campaign donations.
In an unusual twist, the man who prosecuted Charles Kushner was Chris Christie, now the former governor of New Jersey, who also has served as an adviser to the President.
Mr Christie was quoted by CNN as saying Charles Kushner's case was "one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes" he prosecuted.
During the case, Charles Kushner admitted to smearing his brother-in-law, who had cooperated with prosecutors, by hiring a prostitute to have sex with him in a motel room, then sending a secretly recorded video of the encounter to the man's wife, Charles Kushner's own sister.
Mr Trump's legally troubled allies were not the only recipients of clemency, announced after Mr Trump travelled to Mar-a-Lago for his Christmas break.
The long list included people whose pleas for forgiveness have been promoted by people who have supported the President throughout his term in office, among them former Florida attorney-general Pam Bondi, Newsmax chief executive officer Christopher Ruddy and Republican senator Paul Rand.
The actions bring to 49 the number of people Mr Trump has granted clemency, either through pardons or sentence commutations, in the past two days.
ABC/wires