Trump pardons US congressman who spent $1,500 of campaign funds on Steam games

midian182

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Recap: Remember Duncan Hunter, the former US congressman who pleaded guilty to the misuse of over $250,000 of campaign funds on personal expenses, including $1,500 on Steam games? He was sentenced to 11 months in prison for his crimes but won't spend any time behind bars after being pardoned by Donald Trump.

Hunter and his wife Margaret were indicted in 2018 for using campaign funds to pay for miscellaneous goods and services for themselves and their family between 2010 and 2016. In addition to hotels, overseas vacations, and plane tickets, the money went on everyday items such as groceries, utilities, and clothes. They also spent $500 on flying the family's pet rabbit, Eggburt, across the country. What attracted gamers' attention, of course, was the $1,528.68 (previously thought to be $1,302) spent on Steam titles.

Hunter claimed his teenage son was behind one Steam charge, while the others were from his efforts to block access to the platform, writes PC Gamer.

Margaret, who filed for divorce this month, pleaded guilty to the charges last year. She was sentenced to three years probation and eight months of house arrest in March 2020.

Hunter finally pleaded guilty to one count of misusing campaign funds in 2019. His 11-month prison sentence was due to begin in two weeks—January 4, 2021—after the original May 2020 date was postponed due to Covid-19. But he won't be spending any time incarcerated.

As per Politico, Trump's pardon of Hunter comes "at the request of many Members of Congress." The White House adds that Hunter's actions should have been dealt with as a civil case by the Federal Election Commission rather than in criminal court. It also notes that "Mr. Hunter has dedicated much of his adult life to public service," highlighting his tours of Iraq and Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. Marine Corp.

Last week, rumors claimed that Trump had been mulling over a pardon for Ross Ulbricht, but the Silk Road founder wasn't one of the 15 pardons and commutations made by the president on December 22, neither was Hunter's wife.

Permalink to story.

 
The last time the Presidential pardon was used to clear an obvious criminal was when Nixon was pardoned.

(AP Wire) "Obama granted yesterday a pardon to General James Cartwright. Cartwright served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Obama, and was “a key member of Mr. Obama’s national security team and earned a reputation as the president’s "favorite general,”. Cartwright had leaked classified information regarding Iran’s nuclear program to the media and lied to the FBI regarding those criminal leaks of information....Cartwright was due to be sentenced when the pardon was granted..."
 
"On his last day in office, Bill Clinton issued a pardon for international fugitive Marc Rich...Rich was wanted for a list of charges stretching back decades....he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. [Days before] the pardon, the financier’s ex-wife Denise had donated $450,000 to the Clinton Library and over $1 million to Democratic campaigns...."

The FBI opened a bribery investigation against the Clintons for this one. The investigation was assigned to James Comey, however, and, like the Clinton email investigation, went nowhere.
 
The essence of whataboutism: digging through Democrat pardons with a magnifying glass while your god emperor mass pardons the dregs of humanity - murderous war criminals, white collar thieves and crooks, and people who sell out our country to some dreadful foreign governments.

We will see Trump's comeuppance soon enough.
 
The last time the Presidential pardon was used to clear an obvious criminal was when Nixon was pardoned.
Do these not count? Some of Obama's 212 Pardons:

Randy Cantu: Conspiracy; forgery.
Dean Condo: Possession of counterfeit currency.
Edward Casas: Smuggling
Amanda Deblauw: Distribution of heroin.
Michael Faucchiano: Fraud, Mail Fraud (two counts).
Caryn Camp: Wire fraud (10 counts); mail fraud (two counts); conspiracy to transport stolen goods; interstate transportation of stolen goods.
Roy Benson: Bank Fraud.
Miriam Ortega: Importation of cocaine; possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Laurens Dorsey: Conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Timothy Gallagher: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Scoey Morris: Passing counterfeit obligations or securities
Kim Drake: Bank Embezzlement.
Andrew Ellifson: Conspiracy, Fraud.
Mathew Lamb: Aggravated identity theft.
Mitchell Mellor: Health care fraud.
Marvin Ferrell: Mail Fraud.
Cynthia Raffensparger: Fraudulent issuance of money orders; theft of government property.
Danny Softley: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Lisa Jandro: Money laundering, Conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Allen Perratt: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
James Adelmann: Conspiracy to embezzle by trustee or officer; embezzlement by trustee (five counts); making a false account.
Herbert Bennett: Mail fraud; making and subscribing to a false tax return.
Mitchell Campbell: Distribution of cocaine (four counts); making a false income tax return (four counts).
(191 further entries omitted)
 
Why must
The last time the Presidential pardon was used to clear an obvious criminal was when Nixon was pardoned.

Don't follow politics much I see. A-holes from both corrupt parties use the pardon to free criminals all the time. Actually, I'm not sure what the pardon would be used for besides for "obvious criminals." Do you honestly think every president since Ford has only pardoned wrongly convicted people?

As long as people are in the tank for one party or the other, we'll keep getting terrible candidates like Biden and Trump.
 
The essence of whataboutism..While your god [pardons] war criminals.
You can't evade being called out on your hypocrisy by bleating "whataboutism". Trump's number of pardons and pardon approval rate are far lower than Obama's, Bush's, or Clinton's.

As for the "murderous war criminals" claim, a few facts: A federal judge threw out the first case against these men. Then VP Joe Biden got publicly involved and forced a new prosecution. But the real impetus for the pardon is that, subsequent to their conviction, it was revealed that the Iraqi prosecutor involved in the case, Col. Faris Karim, withheld evidence favorable to the men, and himself had ties to radical terror groups in Iraq. Karim -- also a member of the Iraqi secret police -- had been involved in witness tampering and destruction of evidence in other cases. Karim had been accused of removing the evidence from the scene that proved these men had been being fired upon when they fired back.

The disclosures about Karim had caused victims rights' groups to call for the pardon of the Blackwater contractors.

digging through Democrat pardons with a magnifying glass...
It doesn't take a magnifying glass to see someone on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List. When Trump pardons one of those, come back to us.
 
When Trump pardons one of those, come back to us
who's us? brain washed nitwits living in trump fantasy land? Clinton called the "us" factually when she said they are the "Basket of deplorables". The reality is these deplorables are bigly losers just like trump, so pathetic they turn to outlets like newsmax, breitbart, and one america news to lie to them.
 
Hopefully I meet up with you on uncensored voice chat so we can discuss the 2020 election “openly” but I don’t believe Techspot is the place I can thoroughly voice my opinion about this issue while delivering 100% of my intent.
But yet, you still posted the first political post that was immediately debunked as false and inaccurate. Why would anyone care about your opinion after that or even trust that anything you would say would be remotely truthful. Next time, post something factual, back it up with a official source and then we might care to listen.
 
"On his last day in office, Bill Clinton issued a pardon for international fugitive Marc Rich...Rich was wanted for a list of charges stretching back decades....he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. [Days before] the pardon, the financier’s ex-wife Denise had donated $450,000 to the Clinton Library and over $1 million to Democratic campaigns...."

The FBI opened a bribery investigation against the Clintons for this one. The investigation was assigned to James Comey, however, and, like the Clinton email investigation, went nowhere.
What are you trying to say by pointing this stuff out? That it's okay because others have done it? You have pointed out how Obama and Clinton pardoned one person each. Trump is handing out pardons like candy by the dozens to terrorists and people who have were treasonous to our country. There is a difference.
 
You have pointed out how Obama and Clinton pardoned one person each. Trump is handing out pardons like candy by the dozens to terrorists and people who have were treasonous to our country.
Obama handed out 212 pardons and 1,700+ clemencies -- several times what Trump has. Obama also pardoned one traitor (Bradley Manning: over 750,000 classified documents given to our enemies), and one terrorist bomb-maker: FALN member Oscar Lopez. None of Trump's pardons involves traitors or terrorists.

Would you like to try again, this time with some facts?
 
Obama handed out 212 pardons and 1,700+ clemencies -- several times what Trump has. Obama also pardoned one traitor (Bradley Manning: over 750,000 classified documents given to our enemies), and one terrorist bomb-maker: FALN member Oscar Lopez. None of Trump's pardons involves traitors or terrorists.

Would you like to try again, this time with some facts?
You brought up one example for each before my post. Clearly you are all for pardons for criminals. Your version of TDS where you drank his kool-aid is quite the tinfoil hat kind of thing I'd expect. Even the republican led Senate confirmed that the Russian interference wasn't a hoax. All heil Trump he can do no wrong because others have done wrong before him.
 
But yet, you still posted the first political post that was immediately debunked as false and inaccurate. Why would anyone care about your opinion after that or even trust that anything you would say would be remotely truthful. Next time, post something factual, back it up with a official source and then we might care to listen.

It wasn't debunked.

I care what he has to say.

Trump apologists do not get to complain about anyone being untruthful. Ever again.
 
The entire presidential pardon system is absolute horse manure!

What kind of country are you guys running over there, cancel that ridiculous corrupt system NOW.
Amend your outdated constitution and stop worshipping it as something that's perfectly written by God Himself.
It out of touch and out of date and it's being used to corrupt your entire democracy and laws.
 
Do these not count? Some of Obama's 212 Pardons:

Randy Cantu: Conspiracy; forgery.
Dean Condo: Possession of counterfeit currency.
Edward Casas: Smuggling
Amanda Deblauw: Distribution of heroin.
Michael Faucchiano: Fraud, Mail Fraud (two counts).
Caryn Camp: Wire fraud (10 counts); mail fraud (two counts); conspiracy to transport stolen goods; interstate transportation of stolen goods.
Roy Benson: Bank Fraud.
Miriam Ortega: Importation of cocaine; possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Laurens Dorsey: Conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Timothy Gallagher: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Scoey Morris: Passing counterfeit obligations or securities
Kim Drake: Bank Embezzlement.
Andrew Ellifson: Conspiracy, Fraud.
Mathew Lamb: Aggravated identity theft.
Mitchell Mellor: Health care fraud.
Marvin Ferrell: Mail Fraud.
Cynthia Raffensparger: Fraudulent issuance of money orders; theft of government property.
Danny Softley: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Lisa Jandro: Money laundering, Conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Allen Perratt: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
James Adelmann: Conspiracy to embezzle by trustee or officer; embezzlement by trustee (five counts); making a false account.
Herbert Bennett: Mail fraud; making and subscribing to a false tax return.
Mitchell Campbell: Distribution of cocaine (four counts); making a false income tax return (four counts).
(191 further entries omitted)

No they don't count. Don't anyone dare accuse the first black president of any wrong doing. He gets special exceptions. Refusing to do so is racist.
 
The entire presidential pardon system is absolute horse manure!

What kind of country are you guys running over there, cancel that ridiculous corrupt system NOW.
Amend your outdated constitution and stop worshipping it as something that's perfectly written by God Himself.
It out of touch and out of date and it's being used to corrupt your entire democracy and laws.

Until it becomes you who wants to be pardon. Then the viewpoint would be different huh?
 
Why must

Don't follow politics much I see. A-holes from both corrupt parties use the pardon to free criminals all the time. Actually, I'm not sure what the pardon would be used for besides for "obvious criminals." Do you honestly think every president since Ford has only pardoned wrongly convicted people?

As long as people are in the tank for one party or the other, we'll keep getting terrible candidates like Biden and Trump.
This! I didn't even read any further.
 
You brought up one example for each before my post.
I also stated before your post that Obama had granted 212 pardons. So in addition to being ignorant of the political and historical context on which you were commenting, you failed to read the thread before responding.

Clearly you are all for pardons for criminals.
Who else would you pardon? A non-criminal? Why would they need one?

Even the republican led Senate confirmed that the Russian interference wasn't a hoax.
Both Mueller and the Senate confirmed that there was no collusion. And Brennan's own handwritten notes confirm the entire collusion narrative was a hoax cooked up by Hillary Clinton.
 
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