Will there be a rush of prisoners writing flattering things about Trump?President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned Conrad M. Black, a friend and former business associate who wrote a flattering book about the president last year.
Black, a Canadian-born citizen of Britain, was found guilty of mail fraud and obstruction in 2007 in a ploy to swindle millions of dollars from investors in his media company. Black served more than three years in prison and was legally barred from reentering the United States.
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In a statement, the White House praised Black as an "entrepreneur and scholar," citing his many published works. It also stated the Supreme Court overturned many of the charges against Black and that several people, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Elton John, Rush Limbaugh and the late William F. Buckley Jr. all vouched for Black.
However, the statement did not mention Black's book “Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other,” which praised the president and was published last year. Nor did it mention the many columns Black has written lauding Trump.
Black has described himself as a personal friend of Trump. [...] In December 2015, after Black wrote a National Review article headlined “Trump is the good guy,“ Trump tweeted: “What an honor to read your piece. As one of the truly great intellects & my friend, I won't forget!“
Black continues to write positively about Trump, tweeting Wednesday: "The Democrats have, evidently, no idea how to deal with this president, and their moral crusade against him is about to be swamped by the unmasking of the skullduggery [sic] and chicanery of the Clinton and Obama Democrats in 2016."
Trump‘s presidential pardons have not been without controversy. His first pardon was of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who also been vocally supportive of the president.
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On Wednesday, Trump also pardoned Patrick Nolan, former Republican leader of the California State Assembly.
Politico
Who's Pat Nolan?
Sure.Pat Nolan [is] a former Republican state legislative leader who spent years in prison after being convicted in the “Shrimpscam” FBI sting in the 1990s and later became a high-profile conservative apostle for criminal justice reform.
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Nolan served 26 months of a 33-month prison sentence after pleading guilty in what would become one of Sacramento’s most notorious political corruption cases.Nolan, who was elected to the Legislature in 1978 and served as Assembly GOP leader in the 1980s, was secretly videotaped accepting checks from an undercover FBI agent in a scheme to support a bill that would have helped a fictitious company open a shrimp processing plant near Sacramento.
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Facing six counts of racketeering, conspiracy, extortion and money laundering in Shrimpscam, Nolan instead pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering in exchange for a lesser sentence. He maintained his innocence and said he pleaded guilty only to avoid a longer sentence that could have kept him away from his family.
LA Times
At any rate, he at least has involved himself in pushing for prison reform in the intervening years. So I'm guessing Trump asked to find somebody to pardon who maybe deserved it to detract from pardoning Black.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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