Trump commutes sentence of donor who obstructed inaugural committee probe

President Donald Trump made headlines on Wednesday when he decided to commute the 12-year sentence of Imaad Zuberi, a major political donor who was serving time for various offenses, including obstructing an investigation into Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee. Zuberi, 54, was once a prominent Democrat supporter before switching his allegiance to Trump following his victory in the 2016 election. He had previously worked as a bundler for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, serving on their campaign finance committees.

After the 2016 election, Zuberi donated over $1.1 million to committees associated with Trump and the Republican Party, earning him invitations to exclusive black-tie dinners celebrating Trump’s inauguration. However, in 2020, he found himself in legal trouble when he pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into a $900,000 donation he made to Trump’s inaugural committee. He also admitted 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 was accused of directing millions of dollars from a Sri Lankan contract to himself and his wife for personal use, shortchanging lobbyists, public relations and law firms, and other subcontractors involved in the lobbying effort. Despite these serious charges, Trump decided to commute Zuberi’s sentence, along with several others on the same day.

One of the other individuals who had their sentence commuted by Trump was Larry Hoover, the co-founder of the Chicago gang Gangster Disciples. Hoover, who is currently serving time in a federal supermax prison, was initially imprisoned for a 1973 murder and later convicted in 1998 for operating a criminal enterprise.

In addition to commuting Zuberi and Hoover’s sentences, Trump also pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who had been convicted in two federal criminal cases, one of which led to his resignation from office. The decision to grant clemency to these individuals sparked controversy and debate among legal experts and the public.

The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.