Organized crime owns the DONALD JOHN TRUMP maladministration,
As the junior Senator from the great State of Vermont, U.S. Senator Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) said it best: "“Today, Trump granted clemency to tax cheats, Wall Street crooks, billionaires, and corrupt government officials. Meanwhile thousands of poor and working-class kids sit in jail for nonviolent drug convictions. This is what a broken and racist criminal justice system looks like."
From NJ.com:
Chris Christie asked Trump to pardon this former CEO. The president just did.
Today 5:38 PM
President Donald Trump with former Gov. Chris Christie in Oct. 2017.Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — A former corporate chief executive who spent his post-prison years helping inmates return to society received a pardon from President Donald Trump on Tuesday at the urging of former Gov. Chris Christie.
Christie and long-time ally Jeff Chiesa, a former state attorney general and interim U.S. senator, represented Ariel Friedler, the founder and former CEO of Virginia-based Symplicity Corp., in his application for a pardon. They submitted the request for a pardon more than a year ago.
Trump called Christie on Friday and they discussed the pardon for the first time, the former governor told NJ Advance Media.
He said Trump asked him, “Are you convinced he’s a really good guy?" and Christie responded, "Yes, Mr. President.”
“I said, ‘Mr. President, he got treated wrong and you can help right it,’” Christie said.
Friedler went to prison after pleading guilty in 2014 to conspiracy to hack into computer systems of competitors to Symplicity, which provides software to universities and government agencies. Since then, he has worked to help ex-inmates return to society as well as advocate for veterans.
“It was a complete overreaction by the U.S. attorney’s office,” Christie said. “He acknowledged that he did something wrong but he didn’t deserve to be a federal felon and now he’s not a federal felon because of the president.”
“I heard nothing but great stuff about the guy,” Christie said.
Both Trump, who signed landmark legislation offering alternatives to incarceration for many nonviolent offenders, and Christie, who led the way in Jersey to keep nonviolent drug abusers out of prison, championed changes to the criminal justice system.
Along with Christie, Rabbi Menachem Katz a leader of the Florida-based Aleph Institute, which also works with prisoners, pushed for Friedler’s pardon, the White House said.
Others who pardoned or saw their sentences commuted by Trump on Tuesday included:
* Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, whose effort to become President George W. Bush’s homeland security secretary collapsed in scandal and he went to prison for tax fraud and other felonies.
* Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who tried to sell Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder.
* Financier Michael Milken, imprisoned for violating securities laws.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.
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