MaddowBlog-How a round of golf led to one of Trump's most bizarre pardons

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Why did the president derail a corruption case filed by his own Justice Department? It started with a chat on a golf course with a Fox News host.

How a round of golf led to one of Trump’s most bizarre pardons - MS NOW

apple.news/Aed_xcjmDRXO...

— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-12-08T17:28:19.303Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/how-a-round-of-golf-led-to-one-of-trumps-most-bizarre-pardons

A New York Times report on the developments added, “The White House did not immediately respond to a question on Wednesday about why Mr. Trump had pardoned someone who was prosecuted by his own administration.”

The underlying questions lingered, however, and The Wall Street Journal reported on the apparent answer:

Trump decided on the pardon after Republican former Rep. Trey Gowdy raised the case with him following a round of golf, according to people familiar with the matter. Leiweke had faced charges of rigging the bid for a $375 million basketball arena that was later built for the University of Texas. He had pleaded not guilty.

While the Journal’s report has not been independently verified by MS NOW, Gowdy, who became a Fox News host after stepping down from Congress in 2019, effectively confirmed the reporting, telling the paper on the record that he played a round of golf with the president on Nov. 16, at which point Trump asked Gowdy if there was anything he needed. The former Republican congressman brought up his client, Leiweke, arguing that he’d been treated unfairly.....

I continue to believe this is one of the most laughable claims Leavitt has ever made, and the circumstances surrounding the Leiweke pardon make clear that in this administration, “pardons” and “utmost seriousness” clearly do not belong in the same sentence.

The Journal’s report on this case noted that prosecutors from Trump’s own administration had granted immunity to Leiweke’s partners to focus specifically on Leiweke. Instead, thanks to the president, prosecutors are walking away empty-handed in “the only criminal case targeting how the live-events industry works.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Trump swayed over 'round of golf' to pardon indicted entertainment titan: report

This pardon is very sketchy

Trump swayed over ‘round of golf’ to pardon indicted entertainment titan: report

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2025-12-06T23:00:45.631Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-pardons-2674375507

President Donald Trump's decision to pardon entertainment titan Tim Leiweke this week may have been sparked by a recent “round of golf” with Leiweke’s attorney, who reportedly brought up his client’s case to the president between swings, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Leiweke was indicted in July related to a felony charge for attempting to rig the bid for a $375 million basketball arena in Texas, bragging to his colleagues at the time that he had been “very clever” at having “scared” other bidders away from the project, an admission that prosecutors felt ran afoul of antitrust laws.,,,,

“In an interview, Gowdy said that after playing a round of golf at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 16, Trump asked Gowdy if there was anything he needed,” the Journal’s report reads.

“Gowdy, a former prosecutor who had a 3.4 golf handicap in 2023, according to Golf Digest, brought up his client’s case, first asking for help getting a meeting with one of the federal prosecutors handling it. Leiweke had been treated unfairly, Gowdy told Trump in later conversations, pointing to the other immunity agreements.”

Gowdy would go on to advocate for Leiweke to be issued a nonprosecution deal, to which Trump ultimately did one better by issuing Leiweke a full pardon.