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President Trump has pardoned a Florida health care executive whose mother played a role in trying to expose the contents of Ashley Biden\u2019s diary.<\/p>\n
The pardon<\/a> of the executive, Paul Walczak, was signed privately on Wednesday and posted on the Justice Department\u2019s website on Friday. It came less than two weeks after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison<\/a> and ordered to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution, for tax crimes that prosecutors said were used to finance a lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of a yacht.<\/p>\n Mr. Walczak\u2019s mother, Elizabeth Fago, who was also involved in the health care industry in Florida, is a longtime Republican donor and fund-raiser who played a role in a surreptitious effort to help Mr. Trump by undermining Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n During the campaign, Ms. Fago was contacted by a man who was in possession of a diary kept by Mr. Biden\u2019s daughter, Ashley, as she recovered from addiction, The New York Times previously reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When first told of the diary, Ms. Fago said she thought it would help Mr. Trump\u2019s chances of winning the election if it was made public, two people familiar with the matter later told The Times. The man, Robert Kurlander, circulated the diary at a fund-raiser at Ms. Fago\u2019s house in Jupiter, Fla., in September 2020.<\/p>\n Ms. Fago\u2019s daughter passed along a tip about the diary to Project Veritas, a conservative group that had become a favorite of Mr. Trump\u2019s<\/a>. Project Veritas later paid $40,000 to Mr. Kurlander and an associate, Aimee Harris, for the diary.<\/p>\n The Justice Department investigated the theft and handling of the diary<\/a>, which included scrutiny of Ms. Fago and her daughter. Neither they nor anyone from Project Veritas was charged, but Mr. Kurlander and Ms. Harris were convicted in connection with the scheme<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is no evidence that Mr. Walczak was involved in the effort to acquire the diary, and the charges against him were unrelated to the matter.<\/p>\n He had donated a total of about $450 to Mr. Trump\u2019s 2020 campaign<\/a> around the time of the fund-raiser at his mother\u2019s home, but it is not clear whether he attended it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Asked about the pardon, he declined to comment and did not respond to a follow-up message inquiring about the diary. Ms. Fago, who has donated more than $16,000 to Mr. Trump\u2019s committees and was nominated by him in December 2020 to the National Cancer Advisory Board, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The pardon of Mr. Walczak comes as Mr. Trump is increasingly using his nearly unfettered clemency powers<\/a> to reward allies, highlight his grievances about what he sees as the political weaponization of the justice system and swipe at perceived enemies, including the Bidens.<\/p>\n Last month, Mr. Trump granted clemency to Devon Archer<\/a> and Jason Galanis<\/a>. The men are former business partners of Mr. Biden\u2019s son Hunter, and earned fans on the political right<\/a> by testifying to Republican-controlled congressional committees<\/a> about the overlap between the younger Mr. Biden\u2019s business dealings and the elder Mr. Biden\u2019s public service.<\/p>\n Raymond R. Granger, a lawyer who represented Mr. Walczak in his criminal tax case, confirmed that he had drafted the pardon application with assistance from two lawyers with whom he worked on the case, Richard Levitt and Dennis Kainen.<\/p>\n In a statement, Mr. Granger said \u201cPaul and his family are truly grateful to the president, and Paul looks forward to returning his focus to his lifelong passion for improving the country\u2019s health care system.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The clemency grant for Mr. Walczak came on the same day as Mr. Trump issued a pardon<\/a> to Michele Fiore, a Nevada Republican politician who was convicted last year in connection with a scheme to use charitable donations<\/a> for personal expenses, including plastic surgery, rent and her daughter\u2019s wedding.<\/p>\n A White House official said, without providing evidence, that Mr. Walczak and Ms. Fiore had been the victims of biased prosecutions under the Biden Justice Department.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n