Conservative author and activist Dinesh D'Souza said Friday that his pardon from President Trump
Donald John TrumpMichelle Wolf in July Fourth salute: 'God bless abortions and God bless America' Graham: Trump's Supreme Court picks 'all winners' Man arrested after allegedly threatening to kill Trump supporters, GOP lawmaker MORE is proof that Trump wanted him to have "a bigger voice than ever" in the conservative movement.
In an interview with "Fox & Friends," the former American Enterprise Institute scholar said Trump told him on a phone call that he felt a great "injustice" had been done to D'Souza in his 2014 New York conviction for illegal campaign donations.
"The president said, 'Dinesh, you have been a great voice for freedom,' " D'Souza claimed. "And he said that 'I got to tell you man-to-man, you’ve been screwed.' "
"He goes, 'I have been looking at the case. I knew from the beginning that it was fishy,' " he continued. "Upon reviewing it, he felt a great injustice had been done and that using his power, he was going to rectify it, sort of clear the slate and he said he just wanted me to be out there, to be a bigger voice than ever, defending the principles that I believe in."
.@DineshDSouza: “I’m very grateful to President Trump for giving me those rights back.” @foxandfriends https://t.co/mHNMj01oRw pic.twitter.com/Q28mDEQeQi
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 1, 2018
Trump announced the conservative writer's pardon on Thursday, claiming in a tweet that D'Souza had been treated "unfairly" by the Obama administration.
D'Souza on Friday maintained that argument, alleging that the Obama administration convicted him because the president and his team wanted to "make an example" of him through his prosecution for illegally donating $20,000 to a New York politician.
"I have become very familiar with these campaign finance cases over the past several years. No American in our country's history has ever been indicted, let alone prosecuted, let alone locked up for doing what I did. There is just not a single case," D'Souza said.
"So, what happened here is Obama and his team, [Attorney General] Eric Holder
Eric Himpton HolderSCOTUS defeat of Democrats’ election-rigging strategy a victory for voters The American experience is incomplete without its neighbor – The argument for Americanism Eric Holder: Trump administration has 'brought shame to the nation’ with family separations MORE, [District Attorney] Preet Bharara
Preetinder (Preet) Singh BhararaPossibility of Trump pardoning himself sparks GOP pushback Admission that Trump dictated statement on Trump Tower meeting raises new questions Bharara: Trump allies ‘clearly getting a message’ from pardons MORE in New York, these guys decided to make an example of me," he charged. "This was a vindictive political hit that was kind of aimed at putting me out of business."
Prominent Americans including the father of White House aide Jared Kushner
Jared Corey KushnerTrump shapes the landscape in Jerusalem Comedian who allegedly prank-called Trump: If I duped Jared Kushner, so did the Russians The Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by Better Medicare Alliance — Protests and anger: Washington in turmoil as elections near MORE, Charles Kushner, have been convicted of illegal campaign donations in the past and served high-profile prison sentences.
