(JTA) — President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to Conrad Black, the former owner and publisher of The Jerusalem Post who had spent three years in prison for stealing $60 million from his own company, Hollinger International.
Black was found guilty of fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007. Along with The Jerusalem Post, Hollinger’s included the Chicago Sun-Times and The Daily Telegraph in London, as well as hundreds of small community papers.
Black is a personal friend of the president and wrote a flattering book about him titled “Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other.”
“When my assistant said there was a call from the White House, I picked up, said ‘hello’ and started to ask if this was a prank (suspecting my friends in the British tabloid media),” Black wrote in an essay in the Toronto-based National Post published late Wednesday night.
Black said Trump told him that he would “Expunge the bad rap you got.”
