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 re-entering the United States, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
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, and the two had briefly worked together in constructing the Trump Tower in Chicago, the Washington Post reported. 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!“
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Trump pardoned a former business associate who has written a book and numerous columns praising himhttps://t.co/xGKp9Wl93z
— POLITICO (@politico) May 16, 2019
Black was getting calluses on his knees waiting for this, but he finally got it. https://t.co/qeUHhdRPHK
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 16, 2019
I'm glad to see the President is continuing the tradition of using the pardon power for no good reason other than that he feels like rewarding people who've kissed his ass enough. I believe that's as Madison intended, per Federalist no. 372
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 16, 2019
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