NewsUS President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted a full pardon to Conrad Black, a disgraced media mogul who recently wrote a wrote a book about Trump’s triumphs.
Black was convicted in 2007 on fraud charges, including alleged embezzlement, and obstruction of justice. He served 3.5 years in prison and was deported to Canada after he was released in 2012 and was barred from returning to the US for 30 years.
The White House statement said while prosecutors “alleged” that Black had committed several acts of mail fraud and obstruction, the US Supreme Court “largely disagreed” and overturned numerous charges in his case. “He nevertheless spent 3.5 years in prison.”
The statement cited Black as an “entrepreneur and scholar” who has made contributions to business and “historical thought.” In reference to Black’s work, the White House said he is an “author of several notable biographies and works of history.”
In 2018 Black published Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other, where he continually praised the president and wrote that “Trump possesses the optimism to persevere and succeed, the confidence to affront tradition and convention, a genius for spectacle, and a firm belief in common sense and the common man..” When the book was released, Black denied speculation that he was angling for a pardon. Nevertheless, his pardon was granted nearly a year after its publication.
