Dinesh D'Souza celebrates presidential pardon, claims Obama 'gangsterized' American politics
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Dinesh D'Souza wasted no time in sharing the good news that he would receive a full pardon from President Trump, calling into Laura Ingraham's radio show just minutes after Trump announced the pardon on Twitter.
D'Souza told The Laura Ingraham Show that he was "very relieved" to have his record clean, after he was convicted of campaign finance law violations in 2014. He said the pardon fully restored his faith in America.
He also said that his pardon was great revenge against Preet Bharara, the former U.S. District Attorney whose office prosecuted D'Souza. "File this in the karma's a b--ch department," said D'Souza.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
D'Souza, who often made unfounded claims about former President Obama's supposed personal vendetta against the conservative pundit, has continually painted himself as a martyr who was a victim of "selective prosecution" by the Obama administration. He repeated as much to Ingraham, telling her that "Obama and Hillary [Clinton] have gangsterized U.S. politics." Former President Jimmy Carter "would never dream of locking me up," like Obama allowed, D'Souza contended.
Ingraham agreed, and congratulated D'Souza on his newly expunged record, while other conservative figures took to social media to lavish praise on the provocateur.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
