Trump pardons ex-strategist Steve Bannon, dozens of others

There are pardons and commutations for 143 people.

By Associated Press

JONATHAN LEMIRE, ERIC TUCKER and JILL COLVIN

Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a late flurry of clemency action benefiting nearly 150 people, including rap stars and former members of Congress.

The pardons and commutations for 143 people, including Bannon, were announced after midnight on the East Coast Wednesday in the final hours of Trump’s White House term.

Bannon has been charged with duping thousands of investors who believed their money would be used to fulfill Trump’s chief campaign promise to build a wall along the southern border. Instead, he allegedly diverted over a million dollars, paying a salary to one campaign official and personal expenses for himself.

Bannon did not respond to questions Tuesday.

Trump has already pardoned a slew of longtime associates and supporters, including his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort; Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law; his longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone; and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

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