Trump pardons Tenn. Republican who pleaded guilty to campaign finance scheme

Summary

Donald Trump pardoned former Tennessee state senator Brian Kelsey, who served only two weeks of a 21-month sentence for a campaign finance scheme.

Kelsey illegally funneled state campaign funds into his failed 2016 congressional bid and later tried to withdraw his guilty plea.

He claimed “God used Donald Trump to save me” from a "weaponized Biden DOJ."

The pardon follows Trump’s decision to weaken the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section.