In a sudden outburst of clemency, President Trump issued seven pardons and four commutations in one day, relying largely on recommendations from his staff on which convicted felons to grant clemency to.
Facebook | The White Ho
Trump Grants Pardon To Man Whose Family Gave $200,000 To His Campaign
Among the higher profile cases, President Trump commuted the sentence of former Democratic Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich.
As the BBC reported, Blagojevich, who once appeared on Celebrity Apprentice, was eight years into a 14-year sentence for several acts of corruption, including selling Barack Obama's former Senate seat, trying to obtain campaign funds in exchange for legislation beneficial to the race track industry, and extorting a children's hospital for campaign funds.
In 2018, Blagojevich's wife made an appeal on Fox News in which she drew parallels between Trump and the Mueller investigation and her husband's case. Despite opposition from many Republicans and aides, Trump went ahead with the pardon, citing the involvement of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in the case, who is a longtime friend of former FBI director James Comey.
One of the others granted clemency was much less known but just as controversial.
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In 2010, construction company owner Paul Pogue pleaded guilty to underpaying his taxes to a tune of $473,000 over a three-year period and received a sentence of three years' probation. Trump's pardon wipes out that sentence.
According to FEC records obtained by The Daily Beast, it appears Pogue's family has recently become large, active donors.
Prior to 2016, the Pogue family wasn't terribly active politically.
Facebook | Pogue Construction
In the 2016 presidential race, Pogue's son Ben and his wife, Ashleigh, donated $5,400 to Rick Santorum's campaign. Then, in 2017, they chipped a few thousand into Paul Ryan's congressional campaign. However, last year the family seemed to get the donation bug big time, all focused on Trump.
In August 2019, Ben contributed $85,000 to Trump Victory, and Ashleigh made a $50,000. As The Daily Beast also noted, the day of her first donation, Ashleigh posted a now-deleted photo of her with Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle on her Instagram.
Just a month later, Ben Pogue made an in-kind air travel contribution of $75,404.40 to the Trump Victory committee.
Instagram | @pogueconstruction
The pair have also made large contributions to both the Republican National Committee and donated $5,600 to Donald Trump for President, Inc, maxing out their personal donation limit.
In total, since August 2019, Pogue's family have contributed more than $200,000 to President Trump's re-election bid.
The White House's official statement cited Pogue's charitable donations among the reasons he was granted clemency.
Facebook | Pogue Construction
"For more than 30 years, he has provided significant humanitarian aid to countries around the world, including Africa, India, and Mexico, all while continuing to help his fellow Americans in times of need," the statement reads.
"Mr. Pogue is the founder of two non-profit organizations. One constructs churches, clinics, schools, and orphanages in developing countries. The other provides disaster relief to communities in need."
h/t: BBC, The Daily Beast
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