离他的任期结束还有不到一个小时,总统唐纳德·特朗普周三,特朗普最后一次赦免了艾伯特·皮罗,他是一位长期在纽约工作的商人,也是福克斯新闻的珍妮·皮罗的前夫,她是特朗普最坚定的有线新闻支持者之一。
特朗普作为总统的最后一幕可能反映了他任职最后几个月反复出现的一个主题:向数十名个人朋友和政治盟友提供仁慈。
赦免皮罗的决定是在不到12个小时后做出的,这被认为是一个最终批次在143项赦免和减刑中,包括特朗普的前首席战略家史蒂夫·班农。
73岁的皮罗将近20年前被定罪在他被发现不正当地扣除了超过100万美元的奢侈个人开支作为其业务的税务注销后,他被控34项阴谋和逃税罪。
斯蒂芬·切尔宁/美联社档案
艾伯特·皮罗和他的妻子威彻斯特县地方检察官珍妮·皮罗在怀特离开法庭
《纽约时报》在审判后报道称,检察官将皮罗的金钱欲描述为可与理查德·尼克松相媲美对权力的渴望。
对特朗普来说,皮罗的赦免是受益于总统宽大权力的支持者名单上的最后一项。
竞选财务记录显示,2020年,皮罗向共和党全国委员会和特朗普竞选团队捐赠了大约2000美元。
珍妮·皮罗(Jeanine Pirro)周六晚间的广播已经成为特朗普的忠实者公布被揭穿的选举欺诈阴谋的场所,她在特朗普现在不活跃的推特页面上经常被大声疾呼。
Trump issues last-minute pardon to ex-husband of Fox News' Jeanine Pirro
With less than an hour before his term ended, PresidentDonald Trumpon Wednesday granted one final pardon to Albert Pirro, a longtime New York businessman and the ex-husband of Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, one of Trump’s staunchest cable news supporters.
What was possibly Trump’s final act as president reflected a recurring theme in his final months in office: delivering clemencies to scores of personal friends and political allies.
The decision to pardon Pirro came less than 12 hours after what was thought to be afinal batchof 143 pardons and commutations -- a list that included Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist.
Pirro, 73, wasconvicted nearly two decades agoon 34 counts of conspiracy and tax evasion after he was found to have improperly deducted over $1 million in lavish personal expenses as a tax write-off for his business.
The New York Times reported after his trial that prosecutors characterized Pirro’s lust for money as being comparable to Richard Nixon’slust for power.
For Trump, Pirro’s pardon was the last entry on a list of supporters who benefitted from the sweeping presidential clemency powers.
Campaign finance records show Pirro donated roughly $2,000 to the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign in 2020.
Jeanine Pirro, whose Saturday evening broadcast has become a venue for Trump loyalists to promulgate debunked election fraud conspiracies, earned frequent shout-outs on Trump’s now-inactive Twitter page.