President Trump has handed down a surprising pardon to Tim Leiweke, the former CEO of Oak View Group (OVG), who was indicted on bid-rigging charges related to the construction of the Moody Center in Austin. The White House did not release an explanation for its decision, which came just days after Granger took over as CEO of OVG following Leiweke's resignation.
Leiweke had vowed to fight the charges, but his efforts were thwarted when a non-prosecution agreement was reached between his company and rival Legends Hospitality Group. The agreement, signed by both sides, effectively dropped the bid-rigging allegations against Leiweke. In exchange for this deal, OVG agreed to pay $15 million.
The pardon announcement has sparked widespread criticism, with many calling it a case of cronyism and Trump's attempt to reward his allies. Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater had stated in court that Leiweke "rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding."
This is not the first time Trump has used his presidential power to pardon high-profile figures with close ties to him. The move has raised concerns about the integrity of the justice system and the influence of politics on the rule of law.
In addition to Leiweke, Trump also pardoned former Congressman Enrique Roberto "Henry" Cuellar and his wife Imelda Cuellar for allegedly accepting bribes from a foreign oil company.
Leiweke had vowed to fight the charges, but his efforts were thwarted when a non-prosecution agreement was reached between his company and rival Legends Hospitality Group. The agreement, signed by both sides, effectively dropped the bid-rigging allegations against Leiweke. In exchange for this deal, OVG agreed to pay $15 million.
The pardon announcement has sparked widespread criticism, with many calling it a case of cronyism and Trump's attempt to reward his allies. Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater had stated in court that Leiweke "rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding."
This is not the first time Trump has used his presidential power to pardon high-profile figures with close ties to him. The move has raised concerns about the integrity of the justice system and the influence of politics on the rule of law.
In addition to Leiweke, Trump also pardoned former Congressman Enrique Roberto "Henry" Cuellar and his wife Imelda Cuellar for allegedly accepting bribes from a foreign oil company.
This is getting out of hand... I mean, I get that everyone's got their own connections, but pardon a guy with bid-rigging charges? That's like taking candy from a baby. 
The White House just says "meh" without giving any explanation? Come on! It's not like Trump has never done something shady in his time... and now he's basically saying, "Hey, I'm gonna make sure my buddies are square"? 
just looked up the latest stats on Trump's pardon spree 
- did you know that since taking office in 2017, he's issued over 1,400 pardons? That's an average of about 120 per year! 
Meanwhile, according to some estimates, about 70% of his pardons have gone to individuals with ties to the Republican Party 
. I mean, no surprise there, but still... it raises questions about the fairness and impartiality of our justice system 
. Meanwhile, only 27% say they approve of the moves 
.
i mean, it does seem like cronyism but whats even crazier is that he did this just days after some other guy took over as ceo of OVG...anyway, this whole pardon thing has me so shook 
i'm also kinda curious about why trump didn't give any explanation for his decision... was he just trying to keep it quiet and not make a big deal out of it? 
