Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump granted full pardons to a conservative advocate and a former newspaper publisher who recently wrote a book praising the President, the White House announced Wednesday.

The White House said Trump offered clemency to Patrick Nolan, a former Republican legislator who allied with Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, on prison revisions last year, and to Lord Conrad M. Black of Crossharbour, a Canadian-born former newspaper publisher who authored a book titled "Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other."

Both men have been out of prison for several years.

Nolan is the director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the American Conservative Union Foundation, and, according to his biography page from that group, he pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge after an FBI sting and spent 29 months in federal custody. The White House said the experience "changed his life" and formed his later career as a conservative advocate for criminal justice revisions, including with the First Step Act, the criminal justice bill Trump signed into law last year. CNN has reached out to the White House to ask about Nolan's connections to the criminal justice effort and Wednesday's pardon.

"Family and friends have long sought clemency for Mr. Nolan, alongside notable advocates like former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and author Arnold Steinberg," the White House said. "In light of these facts, Mr. Nolan is entirely deserving of this Grant of Executive Clemency."

Read More