The old adage, "It's not what you know, it's who you know," has been proven true yet again. Yesterday, Donald Trump pardoned Conrad Black. The two men used to be neighbours in Florida. And Black has written a flattering biography of Trump. Black concluded that, "Americans will likely and rightly judge (Trump) a success, despite his lapses of suavity … he is a man of his times, and his time has come."
Trump returned the flattery: “Lord Black’s case has attracted broad support from many high-profile individuals who have vigorously vouched for his exceptional character,” One should remember that Black was thrown out of Upper Canada College for stealing exams and launching his business career by selling them to his fellow students. His conviction for fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007 was pretty straightforward. The Toronto Star reports:
In 2007, Black was convicted of three counts of fraud and one of obstruction of justice in a Chicago court and sentenced to six and a half years in jail — more than twice the sentence handed to David Radler, his longtime partner who agreed to testify for the prosecution.
Two of the criminal fraud charges were dropped on appeal. But a conviction for felony fraud and obstruction of justice were upheld in 2010 and he was re-sentenced to 42 months in prison and fined $125,000.
Because of that conviction, Black "remains banned by the Ontario Securities Commission from acting as a corporate director or officer of a public company in Ontario. He was also removed from the Order of Canada."
Trump's press secretary, Sarah Sanders proclaimed that Black "has made tremendous contributions to business, and to political and historical thought."
Sometimes the rhetoric really gets oppressive.
Image: National Review
