United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 pardoned 73 people, including his former aide Steve Bannon and other allies, just hours before he was due to leave office.
The list of those pardoned as well as 70 others whose sentences were commuted was released by the White House in a statement during the early hours.
Neither Trump nor his relatives were on the list.
Bannon had been charged with, and pleaded not guilty to, defrauding people over funds raised to build the Mexico border wall, a flagship Trump policy.
He was Trump’s campaign manager during the 2016 election, before becoming a senior adviser to the president. He left the White House acrimoniously in 2017, Trump later giving him the derogatory moniker “Sloppy Steve.”
But Wednesday’s statement read: “Mr. Bannon has been an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen.”
US media earlier reported that the president made his last-minute decision after speaking to Bannon by phone.
Former Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy was similarly pardoned, after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws.
And the rapper Lil Wayne, who faced 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon last month, also made the list.
The star, listed as Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., had shown “generosity through commitment to a variety of charities, including donations to research hospitals and a host of foodbanks,” the release added.
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