Early Thursday morning, Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he will be pardoning Dinesh D'Souza, who was found guilty of violating federal campaign finance laws in 2014. The conservative author and filmmaker was indicted after having been caught illegally using straw donors to contribute funds to Republican Senate candidate Wendy Long back in 2012. He was initially sentenced to five-years probation, including eight months of living in a half-way home and a hefty $30,000 fine.
In response, D'Souza tweeted his excitement over Trump's decision. "Obama & his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both."
During his plea hearing, D'Souza admitted how he "knew that causing a campaign contribution to be made in the name of another was wrong and something the law forbids. I deeply regret my conduct."
The 57-year-old has been outspokenly critical of Barack Obama, who he believes to be a "philandering, inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world for denying him the realization of his anticolonial ambitions," while also arguing how Hitler was not "anti-gay."