Donald Trump issues 20 pardons including for campaign aide who lied to Mueller inquiry

Donald Trump pardoned Michael Flynn last month and issued a wave of new names on Tuesday

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President Trump granted a full pardon on Tuesday to a former campaign aide who pleaded guilty as part of the Mueller investigation, one of a wave of 20 pardons made just weeks before the president leaves the White House.

George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, was pardoned along with Alex van der Zwaan, 36, the Dutch son-in-law of Russian billionaire German Khan, and four Blackwater guards who were convicted over a massacre in Iraq.

Mr Van der Zwaan was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for lying to Robert Mueller’s investigators about contacts with an official in Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Mr Trump granted full pardons to 15 people, including three former Republican lawmakers, and commuted all or part of the sentences of five others.

Mr Papadopoulos, 33, was an adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign, who admitted lying about the timing and significance of his contacts with people who claimed to have ties to top Russian officials.

“The defendant’s crime was serious and caused damage to the government’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” a sentencing recommendation memo from Mr Mueller had said.

Nicholas Slatten, centre, was convicted for his role in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians

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He served 12 days of a 14-day sentence in federal prison, then was placed on a 12-month supervised release.

The White House said Mr Papadopoulos was charged with "a process-related crime, one count of making false statements," as part of the Mueller case, which Mr Trump had denounced as a witch-hunt.

"Today’s pardon helps correct the wrong that Mueller’s team inflicted on so many people," the White House said.

Mr Trump’s list also included four former service members who were convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in 2007.

Nicholas Slatten, who was a contractor for Blackwater in Iraq, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killing of 17 civilians in Baghdad.

The pardons were part of a flurry of such actions expected by the outgoing Republican president before Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20. Mr Trump, who has refused to concede the election, has made unsubstantiated claims of widespread voting fraud and pursued a series of unsuccessful lawsuits to overturn the result.

Last month, Mr Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation. The Flynn pardon drew condemnation from Democrats and other critics.

George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI

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Also receiving pardons were three former Republican lawmakers, including former Representative Chris Collins of New York.

Mr Collins, 70, had been the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Mr Trump’s candidacy in 2016 and was a strong defender of the president. He won re-election in 2018 but resigned the next year.

"In 2019, Collins pled guilty to the charges of conspiring to commit securities fraud and making false statements to the FBI. Mr Collins is currently serving his 26-month sentence," the White House said.

Mr Trump also issued a full pardon to former Republican Representative Duncan Hunter of California, 44, who pleaded guilty a year ago to a single count of conspiring to convert campaign funds to personal use, a felony carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Also pardoned was former Republican Representative Steve Stockman of Texas, 64, who was convicted in 2018 of misuse of charitable funds.

The White House said he had served more than two years of his 10-year sentence and would remain subject to a period of supervised release and an order requiring that he pay more than $1 million in restitution.

Mr Trump also commuted the remaining term of the supervised release of Crystal Munoz, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Ms Munoz spent years in a federal prison in Fort Worth, with Alice Johnson, who was granted clemency by Trump in 2018 in a case championed by reality TV star Kim Kardashian West.