Latest news with #ImaadZuberi
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump commutes sentence of major political donor in latest round of clemency
President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the 12-year sentence of a major political donor who was serving time for a number of offenses, including obstructing an investigation into Trump's 2017 inaugural committee, the White House confirmed with Fox News Digital. Imaad Zuberi, 54, was a major Democrat supporter before he backed Trump following his 2016 election victory, The New York Times reported. Before pivoting to Trump on election night, he served as a bundler for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, including stints on both of their campaign finance committees. Zuberi donated more than $1.1 million to committees associated with Trump and the Republican Party months after the 2016 election, the Times reported. Trump 'Pardon Czar' Explains Key Differences Between Trump And Biden Pardons The donations secured him invitations to a pair of black-tie dinners celebrating Trump's inauguration. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the source of a $900,000 donation he made through his company to Trump's inaugural committee in late December 2016, the report states. Read On The Fox News App Zuberi also pleaded guilty to falsifying records filed with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to conceal his lobbying work on behalf of Sri Lanka. Zuberi allegedly directed millions of dollars from the Sri Lankan contract to himself and his wife for personal purposes, shortchanging lobbyists, public relations and law firms, and certain subcontractors who were part of the lobbying effort. Man Who Had Prison Sentence Commuted By Biden Now Facing Drug, Firearms-related Charges His commutation was one of several on Wednesday, as well as a few pardons. Larry Hoover, who is serving time in a federal supermax prison, also had his sentence commuted. Hoover, the co-founder of the Chicago gang Gangster Disciples, was originally imprisoned for a 1973 murder and later convicted in 1998 for operating a criminal enterprise. Trump also pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who was convicted in two federal criminal cases, including one that contributed to his resignation. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Trump commutes sentence of major political donor in latest round of clemency
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump commutes sentence for donor Imaad Zuberi
President Trump has commuted the sentence of top political donor Imaad Zuberi, who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2021 after giving illegal campaign contributions to former President Biden and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). A White House official confirmed Trump commuted his sentence to The Hill's sister network NewsNation on Wednesday. Zuberi had pleaded guilty in 2019 and 2020 to tax evasion, lobbying top U.S. officials while working as a foreign agent, campaign finance violations and obstruction of justice. Alongside the 12-year sentence, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ordered Zuberi to pay close to $16 million in restitution and a nearly $2 million fine. 'I'm deeply sorry and, of course, humiliated,' Zuberi previously told Phillips. 'I have no excuse for what I've done.' Zuberi has also been accused of putting together meetings with U.S. and foreign politicians as well as being behind a straw donor plot. 'Everyone wants to come to Washington to meet people,' Zuberi said in a decade-old email in which he was attempting to put together a meeting between the president of Guinea and a congressman, according to the AP. 'We get request(s) for meeting(s) from all scumbag of the world, warlords, kings, queens, presidents for life, military dictators, clan chiefs, tribal chiefs and etc.' The New York Times previously reported that Zuberi donated over $1.1 million in the three months following Trump's first election to committees linked with the president and the GOP after previously backing former President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her 2016 bid for the presidency. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Trump commutes sentence of major political donor in latest round of clemency
President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the 12-year sentence of a major political donor who was serving time for a number of offenses, including obstructing an investigation into Trump's 2017 inaugural committee, the White House confirmed with Fox News Digital. Imaad Zuberi, 54, was a major Democrat supporter before he backed Trump following his 2016 election victory, The New York Times reported. Before pivoting to Trump on election night, he served as a bundler for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, including stints on both of their campaign finance committees. Zuberi donated more than $1.1 million to committees associated with Trump and the Republican Party months after the 2016 election, the Times reported. The donations secured him invitations to a pair of black-tie dinners celebrating Trump's inauguration. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the source of a $900,000 donation he made through his company to Trump's inaugural committee in late December 2016, the report states. Zuberi also pleaded guilty to falsifying records filed with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to conceal his lobbying work on behalf of Sri Lanka. Zuberi allegedly directed millions of dollars from the Sri Lankan contract to himself and his wife for personal purposes, shortchanging lobbyists, public relations and law firms, and certain subcontractors who were part of the lobbying effort. His commutation was one of several on Wednesday, as well as a few pardons. Larry Hoover, who is serving time in a federal supermax prison, also had his sentence commuted. Hoover, the co-founder of the Chicago gang Gangster Disciples, was originally imprisoned for a 1973 murder and later convicted in 1998 for operating a criminal enterprise. Trump also pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who was convicted in two federal criminal cases, including one that contributed to his resignation.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Commutes Sentence of Major Donor to his 2017 Inauguration
President Trump on Wednesday commuted the sentence of a California venture capitalist and major political donor who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison for violating lobbying, campaign finance and tax laws, and obstructing an investigation into Mr. Trump's 2017 inaugural committee. The donor, Imaad Zuberi, 54, had been a major supporter of Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, before shifting his support to Mr. Trump after his 2016 victory. In the three months after the 2016 presidential election, Mr. Zuberi donated more than $1.1 million to committees associated with Mr. Trump and the Republican Party, scoring coveted invitations to a pair of black-tie dinners celebrating Mr. Trump's inauguration. In the process, he posted photos of himself with the president, as well as Mr. Trump's first chief of staff, Reince Priebus and various cabinet nominees. In 2020, Mr. Zuberi pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the source of a $900,000 donation he made through his company to Mr. Trump's inaugural committee in late December 2016. In 2019, Mr. Zuberi pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign donations during the Obama administration, including some funded by foreign sources, as part of a scheme to gain access to American politicians for foreign clients. He also pleaded guilty to falsifying records filed with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to conceal his lobbying work on behalf of Sri Lanka to help burnish the country's reputation in Washington amid human rights concerns. And he pleaded guilty to failing to report and pay taxes on $5.65 million he was paid for the Sri Lankan lobbying campaign, much of which, prosecutors say, he diverted for personal use. During some of the criminal proceedings, Mr. Zuberi was represented by David Warrington, who is now Mr. Trump's White House counsel. The White House did not immediately respond to a question about whether Mr. Warrington recused himself from deliberations about the commutation. Part of Mr. Zuberi's defense involved arguing that some of the activity with which he was charged stemmed from his work as a longtime intelligence source for the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Zuberi was sentenced in 2021. In addition to the prison term, he was ordered to pay nearly $16 million in restitution and $1.75 million in fines. He had been held at a low-security federal correctional institution in California and was scheduled to be released in 2030, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
