Trump pardons 3 former GOP congressmen, Blackwater guards convicted of killing Iraqi civilians

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

President Trump on Tuesday commuted the sentences of five people and pardoned 15 others, including four Blackwater guards convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in 2007 while working as contractors; two former Border Patrol agents convicted in 2006 of assault with a dangerous weapon and lying about a shooting; and George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to Trump's 2016 campaign who later pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal officials as part of the Russia inquiry.

Papadopoulos isn't the only person connected with former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation to receive a pardon: Trump also granted clemency to Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who pleaded guilty in 2018 to making false statements to federal officials. Both Papadopoulos and van der Zwaan have already served short prison sentences.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.