President Donald Trump recently pardoned a major Republican donor three days after the man — a key figure in the Jack Abramoff fraud and lobbying scandal — made a political donation to Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pennsylvania), who’s facing one of the nation’s most contested House races.
The megadonor, Adam Kidan, donated $2,600 to Mackenzie’s leadership PAC on June 30, according to Federal Election Commission records. Trump traveled to Mackenzie’s eastern Pennsylvania district on June 23 to campaign with him. The president pardoned Kidan on July 3.
Mackenzie’s office told NOTUS that the Republican congressman did not speak with the White House or Trump about the pardon, but it declined to answer questions about whether the congressman intends to keep Kidan’s donation.