The New York Republican Party late Monday night decried President Donald Trump’s potential plans to pardon former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D), who is currently serving a prison sentence for corruption.
“Make no mistake, disgraced former NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver deserves no clemency or pardon,” the party stated on its Twitter account. “Silver deserves to actually serve the jail time that he was sentenced for selling the incredible power he yielded to enrich himself. He was a corrupt and dishonest politician.”
The New York Times reported early on Monday that Silver is among the individuals being considered to receive Trump’s 11th hour pardons of at least 60 people before the end of his presidency on Wednesday. The Washington Post later confirmed the Times’ report.
Silver was convicted in 2015 on federal charges of corruption after collecting millions of dollars in kickbacks. The state lawmaker was sentenced to 12 years in prison but remained free on bail until he was re-sentenced to six-and-a-half years in 2020. He began serving his sentence on August 26.
Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who had led the prosecution against Silver, blasted Trump’s decision on Monday evening.
“People who say Trump has no empathy are wrong. He has the utmost empathy for degenerate, corrupt, disgraced politicians who perhaps remind him of himself,” Bharara tweeted.
