Prez Trump meets with Kim Kardashian to discuss clemency ... and then tweets that he "Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza"
I have an inkling that years from now lots of academics may be able to get PhDs based on a robust analysis of President Trump's tweeting. And the last 24 hours would make for an especially interesting account of Prez Trump's various perspectives on criminal justice matters. Here are just a few Trumpian tweet highlights:
"Great meeting with @KimKardashian today, talked about prison reform and sentencing."
This CNBC article provides some context for this latest (political) act of Presidential clemency in the last of these linked tweets:
President Donald Trump said Thursday he plans to issue a pardon to Dinesh D'Souza, a prominent conservative commentator and filmmaker who was convicted of making an illegal campaign contribution....
D'Souza pleaded guilty in 2014 to reimbursing two of his associates after directing them to contribute $10,000 each to the 2012 Senate campaign of Wendy Long. He also admitted that he knew what he was doing violated the law.
Then-U.S. attorney Preet Bharara announced D'Souza's conviction at the time. "Dinesh D'Souza attempted to illegally contribute over $10,000 to a Senate campaign, wilfully undermining the integrity of the campaign finance process," Bharara said. "Like many others before him, of all political stripes, he has had to answer for this crime -- here with a felony conviction."...
D'Souza was sentenced to spend an eight-hour day each week in community service as part of a five-year probationary term, according to the Southern District of New York. He also has to attend weekly counseling sessions and pay a $30,000 fine.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, an ally of both Trump and D'Souza, applauded Trump's decision in a tweet of his own....
The president has used his pardon power five other times since taking office, including the controversial pardoning of former Sheriff Joseph Arpaio in August 2017.
Though I am always pleased to see any president make robust use of his clemency powers, I find disconcerting the obvious affinity Prez Trump has for using this power for the benefit of prominent political allies. I am surely naive to hope that Kim Kardashian could have explained to Prez Trump how it could be politically valuable for him to start granting clemency to a bunch of just "regular people" that he claims to care about so much. As I see it, there are lots of federal felons other than Dinesh D'Souza who have been "treated very unfairly by our government!" Perhaps Prez Trump will see and act on that reality eventually.
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