President Trump just announced that he also pardoned former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik today:

POTUS says that he pardoned Bernie Kerik. Kerik was former NY City Police Commissioner. He pleaded guilty to two ethics violations and admitted taking a $250,000 interest free loan from an Israeli Billionaire and failed to report it. — Edward Lawrence (@NewsEdward) February 18, 2020

Trump: "I just pardoned Bernie Kerik." — Alan Rappeport (@arappeport) February 18, 2020

Background:

POTUS says that he pardoned Bernie Kerik. Kerik was former NY City Police Commissioner. He pleaded guilty to two ethics violations and admitted taking a $250,000 interest free loan from an Israeli Billionaire and failed to report it. — Edward Lawrence (@EdwardLawrence) February 18, 2020

He also confirmed that he commuted the sentence of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich:

President Trump says he has commuted the sentence of ex-Gov Rod Blagojevich D-IL, pardoned Bernie Kerik, and pardoned Mike Milken — Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) February 18, 2020

Update. More on the Kerik pardon here:

Bernie Kerik, who served as Rudy Giuliani’s police commissioner and has (mostly) maintained a close friendship with Rudy over the years, was a vocal supporter of the First Step Act and attended prison reform events at the Trump White House. https://t.co/DPr99hyffe — Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 18, 2020

Kerik has spent his years after prison advocating for prison reform. Arguably, he helped make prison reform a popular cause among conservatives. — Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 18, 2020

It’s only recently that conservatives went from “tough on crime” to prison reform. People like Newt Gingrich, one of the world’s biggest assholes who spent the 1990s fear-mongering about drug dealers, rebranded himself a prison reform advocate in the last decade. — Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 18, 2020

Editor’s note: This post has been updated.

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Related:

BREAKING: President Trump pardons ex-49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. https://t.co/Qr0BMp40eC — Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 18, 2020