Outgoing US President Donald Trump has issued more pardons at the fag end of his turbulent term—one of the main beneficiaries is former White House aide Steve Bannon, who is facing fraud charges, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, Trump also granted clemency to more than 140 people, including rap stars and former members of Congress. A pardon was announced for rapper Lil Wayne, and commutations for rapper Kodak Black and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
A statement from the White House said 73 individuals received pardons and another 70 had their sentences commuted.
Bannon, who was a key adviser during Trump's 2016 presidential run, was charged last year with swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build the wall on the US-Mexico border. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump has already pardoned several longtime associates and supporters, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, son-in-law Jared Kushner's father Charles Kushner, longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
A voice of nationalist, outsider conservatism, Bannon, who served in the Navy and worked at Goldman Sachs and as a Hollywood producer before turning to politics, led the conservative Breitbart News before being tapped to serve as chief executive officer of Trump's 2016 campaign in its critical final months.
Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., pleaded guilty in federal court in December to illegally possessing a firearm and faced up to 10 years in prison. He has expressed support for Trump's criminal justice reform efforts.
Kodak Black, 23, who was born Bill Kahan Kapri, is in federal prison for making a false statement in order to buy a firearm.
(With inputs from agencies)
