WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump issued a series of pardons on Wednesday, awarding them to a former New York congressman, a Connecticut governor, a rapper known as “NBA YoungBoy”, a labour union leader and a onetime Army officer who flaunted safety measures during the Coronavirus pandemic.His actions mixed Trump’s willingness to pardon high-profile Republicans and other supporters, donors and friends with the influence of Alice Marie Johnson, whom Trump recently named his pardon czar after he offered a pardon to her in 2020.Johnson was convicted in 1996 on eight criminal counts related to a Memphis-based cocaine trafficking operation. Trump commuted her life sentence in 2018 at the urging of celebrity Kim Kardashian West, allowing for Johnson’s early release.Johnson then served as the featured speaker on the final night of the 2020 Republican National Convention, and Trump subsequently pardoned her before more recently naming her as his point person for pardons.Among those receiving the latest round of Trump pardons was Louisiana rap artiste NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden and whose stage moniker stands for “Never Broke Again”.In 2024, he was sentenced to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges after he acknowledged having possessed weapons despite being a convicted felon.Gaulden also pleaded guilty to his role in a prescription drug fraud ring in Utah.Gaulden’s and the other pardons were confirmed Wednesday evening by two White House officials who spoke only on background to detail actions that had not yet been formally made public.In a statement posted online, Gaulden said, “I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building – as a man, as a father, and as an artiste.” He said this “opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this”, and thanked Johnson.Trump has spent the week issuing high-profile pardons.A video released by a White House aide showed Johnson in the Oval Office on Tuesday, as Trump called their daughter to say he was pardoning TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley of the reality show “Chrisley Knows Best”.Their show spotlighted the family’s extravagant lifestyle, but the couple was convicted of conspiring to defraud banks in the Atlanta area out of more than USD 30 million in loans by submitting false documents.Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, addressed the Republican convention last summer and had long said her parents were treated unfairly.Also Wednesday, Trump commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, a former Chicago gang leader serving a life sentence.Hoover was first imprisoned in connection with a murder in 1973, and was convicted of running a criminal enterprise in 1998, but later renounced his criminal past and petitioned for a reduced sentence.The president also pardoned James Callahan, a New York union leader who pleaded guilty to failing to report USD 315,000 in gifts from an advertising firm and was about to be sentenced.The president pardoned former Connecticut governor John Rowland, a Republican who served from 1995 to 2004 and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for charges related to concealing his involvement in two federal election campaigns.He further pardoned Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned from Congress after being convicted of tax fraud.Grimm won reelection in 2014 despite being under indictment for underreporting wages and revenue at a restaurant that he ran.Grimm eventually resigned after pleading guilty and serving eight months in prison. Last year, Grimm was paralysed from the chest down when he was thrown off a horse during a polo tournament.Yet another Trump pardon was issued for Army Lt. Mark Bradshaw, who was convicted in 2022 of reporting to work without undergoing a Covid-19 test.
