President Donald Trump said Thursday he would grant a "full pardon" to far-right commentator and conspiracy theorist Dinesh D'Souza, the second time he's rewarded a vocal supporter with clemency.

Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!

"I'm very relieved to have my record clean in a way that fully restores my faith in America, my American dream," D'Souza said in an interview on Laura Ingraham's radio program Thursday, according to NBC News. "Something that’s hanging over you and you have the United States of America Versus Dinesh D’Souza, and that is now gone."



D'Souza pleaded guilty in 2014 to campaign finance fraud. His lawyers argued at the time that charges stemming from his illegal contributions to Senate candidate Wendy Long were politically motivated.

According to the FBI, in March 2012 D’Souza contributed $10,000 to Long's campaign on behalf of himself and his wife — attributing $5,000 from each, the amount permitted from any one individual under the Election Act.

Five months later, D’Souza instructed his assistant and a woman he was romantically involved with to donate on behalf of themselves and their spouses, with the promise he’d reimburse them for the contribution. The contributions totaled $20,000.

When Long confronted D’Souza about it, the FBI said he initially misled the candidate before admitting to what he had done and to knowing it was unlawful.

“I knew that causing a campaign contribution to be made in the name of another was wrong and something the law forbids,” D’Souza said during a court hearing, according to Newsday.

Before pleading guilty, his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said D'Souza had been targeted "because of his consistently caustic and highly publicized criticism" of president Barack Obama.

Brafman said the donation "at most ... was an act of misguided friendship."

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he spoke to D'Souza for about three minutes on the phone yesterday — when the president said he would be pardoning him.

"I’ve always felt he was very unfairly treated," Trump said, adding that he has never met D'Souza in person. "And a lot of people did, a lot of people did. What should have been a quick minor fine, like everybody else with the election stuff….what they did to him was horrible."

The president went on to say that he is considering pardoning Rod Blagojevich, the former Governor of Illinois, who is in prison on federal corruption charges.

Blagojevich, who was also a contestant on "The Celebrity Apprentice," is "in jail for being stupid and saying things that every other politician, you know that many other politicians say," Trump said.

The White House also released a statement saying Trump think D'Souza is "a victim of selective prosecution for violations of campaign finance laws."



"Mr. D’Souza accepted responsibility for his actions, and also completed community service by teaching English to citizens and immigrants seeking citizenship.

"In light of these facts, the President has determined that Mr. D’Souza is fully worthy of this pardon."

D'Souza tweeted thanking Trump for the pardon, saying "Obama & his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both."



He then took aim at Preet Bahara, who was US Attorney when he was indicted, saying "KARMA IS A BITCH."