6/1/2018

OBAMA/PARDONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Dinesh D’Souza, the conservative author and filmmaker pardoned by President Trump, claimed victory on Friday [6-1-2018] over what he characterized as a political prosecution by the administration of President Barack Obama. In terms that evidently resonated with Mr. Trump, who is aggrieved about investigations that he blames on his predecessor, Mr. D’Souza presented himself as a victim of selective justice, hounded by Mr. Obama’s attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., and the United States attorney in New York, Preet Bharara, because he made a movie sharply critical of Mr. Obama. Mr. D’Souza pleaded guilty in 2014 to making illegal campaign contributions to Wendy E. Long, a college friend running for Senate from New York as a Republican. He reimbursed others for making $20,000 in gifts to her campaign in what are called straw donations to evade contribution limits. He was fined $30,000 and sentenced to five years probation, including eight months in a supervised ‘community confinement center…’ Mr. Bharara, who was fired by Mr. Trump last year and became one of his most outspoken critics, has rejected the assertion that Mr. D’Souza was prosecuted for political reasons.”

-Peter Baker, “Dinesh D’Souza, Pardoned by Trump, Claims Victory Over Obama Administration,” The New York Times online, June 1, 2018