President Trump has forgiven a Tennessee Republican lawmaker two weeks after serving a 21-month prison sentence for the campaign finance scheme.
Former state Sen. Brian Kelsey announced his forgiveness in an online post.
“God used @RealdonaldTrump to save me from a weaponized Biden DOJ. Yesterday, I received a complete and unconditional pardon from the act of even my chief accuser admitting that I had not committed.” Kelsey said in X.
“Thank you for all your prayers! God blesses America despite the crimes of prosecutors committed over the past four years,” he said. “And God's Blessing @potusDonald J. Trump has made America great again!”
Kelsey was ordered to report to the Federal Minimum Security Satellite Camp in Ashland, Kentucky on February 24th. After receiving Trump's pardon, authorities were ordered to release him immediately. The Associated Press reported.
Kelsey pleaded guilty in November 2022 to charges related to attempting to use campaign funds from the Tennessee Senate Election Committee in a US Congress bid.
He was charged in 2021 and accused of transferring $91,000 in contributions made to political parties or political action committees to the state organization that funded the 2016 House Campaign Advertisement.
Kelsey welcomed the investigation and said he blamed the Biden administration on the prosecutors.
So did Kelsey when his co-defendant pleaded guilty. He later failed to revoke his guilty plea in March 2023, citing “heart and confused heart.”
US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw denied Kelsey's previous attempt to change the charges late last month.
The Associated Press contributed.
