Trump pardons former Tennessee Sen. Brian Kelsey

President Donald Trump has pardoned a former Tennessee senator. Brian Kelseyjust 15 days after the Republican began sentenceing a 21-month sentence for a criminal conviction in a campaign finance conspiracy.

“God used Donald Trump to save me,” Kelsey, 47, told CNBC in a phone interview Wednesday the day after his release from federal prison in Ashland, Kentucky.

“His election saved me from Biden.” Ministry of Justicesaid Kelsey.

Kelsey, a Germantown, Tennessee lawyer, announced in a tweet on social media site X that Trump had given him a “complete and unconditional pardon.”

He told CNBC that three Tennessee GOP lawmakers, Mark Greene, Andy Ogres and Chuck Fleischman, are among those working to get pardons.

“I’m excited about Brian Kelsey. Ogles said in a statement. “Biden’s DOJ weaponized justice to punish principled conservatives. Trump got it. He was there. Time to end this abuse of power!”

“I had a lot of friends and family who offered prayers and outreach on my behalf,” Kelsey said.

The White House and DOJ have not issued a statement releasing Kelsey’s amnesty or why. CNBC requested comment from the White House and DOJ.

US Prison Bureau We confirmed to CNBC that he was released on Tuesday for being pardoned from Ashland camp.

The president’s pardon negates a person’s criminal conviction and related punishment.

Kelsey entered the Ashland Prison Camp on February 24th. US Supreme Court About a month after he filed a request for pardon, rejecting a petition to hear appeal in his case.

Kelsey said he was surprised he had to report to prison because he had provided so much before.

He pleaded guilty in November 2022 to a crime related to transfer funds from the state Senate Campaign account to the ultimately failed campaign for the 2016 legislature.

A few months later, he attempted to withdraw his guilty plea, but failed in his efforts. However, he remained free for almost two years, sueing the case.

On Tuesday afternoon, Kelsey said, “When Assistant Warden called my name and said the president had forgiven me, he was exercising in the camp yard with other prisoners.

When asked what he was planning right now, Kelsey said, “I’m going to take the day to thank President Trump for supporting me and others who embraced my wife and children.” Kelsey has twins, a two-year-old boy and a five-year-old daughter.

On the first day Trump returned to the White House on January 20th, around 1,500 people charged or convicted of a crime on January 6, 2021, were rioted at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

Since then, Trump has announced the pardon for Ross Ulbricht, who had been sentenced to life in prison for crimes related to his Dark Web Marketplace Silk Road, and Rod Blagojevic, who previously served eight years in prison for eight years on charges related to his attempt to sell former President Barack Obama’s Senate seat.

But it is very rare for someone to receive a pardon or a commutive of sentences early in their prison term, as Kelsey did.

Elizabeth Oyerwho was a top pardon at DOJ, said this week that she was fired on Friday after opposing the restoration of gun-carrying actor Mel Gibson. Trump supporter Gibson lost those rights after being convicted in 2011 on a misdemeanor of domestic violence.

on tuesday, NBC News The Trump administration reportedly obstructing the public consistency section of the DOJ, which oversees the prosecution of civil servants accused of corruption.

The Public Integrity Section oversaw Kelsey’s prosecution.

Kelsey said he was targeted for prosecution by “weaponized Biden DOJ.”

“Their real target in my case was to defeat Matt Schlap and the conservative coalition of America,” Kelsey said.

Trump supporter Schup is the chairman of the ACU, which sponsors the annual conservative political action conference known as the CPAC.

“They offered me to cut my deal if I were to testify against Matt Schup of the ACU and others, and if I didn’t, they threatened me with frivolous prosecutions,” Kelsey said.

“I did nothing wrong with them, and no one else did in the ACU. That’s when they brought the accusations,” he said.

Shrup has never been criminally charged by the DOJ.

After CNBC requested comment from Schlapp, a CPAC spokesperson issued a statement stating that the CPAC uses his generous power to address past politicized prosecutions to fully support President Trump. ”

“We are particularly pleased that Tennessee Sen. Brian Kelsey was forgiven yesterday,” the spokeswoman said. “Neither CPAC nor Matt Schlapp were targets for this investigation. The two employed at the time have been thoroughly investigated over the years and have not been charged or convicted.”

“We continue to believe that the DOJ was used to persecute his political opponents under President Joe Biden, and the prosecutions against the Republican Party far surpassed those against members of his own party,” the statement said.

Kelsey’s lawyer Joy Longnecker told CNBC in a petition for forgiveness to Trump that Kelsey said, “I am innocent and I need your help.”

“Every day in courts around the country, innocent people like Brian plead guilty to crimes they have not committed. That’s an unfortunate but undeniable fact.”

“In the 2023 report, [American Bar Association’s] The Attorney General’s Task Force of the Department of Justice, the Criminal Justice Department, has acknowledged that there is “substantial evidence” that “defendants, including innocent defendants, can sometimes be pledged and acceptedly compelled to waive their right to trial.” “

“That’s exactly what happened to Brian,” Longnecker said. “That’s why Brian’s pardon was a proper exercise of President Trump’s enforcement.”

Kent Wicker, another Kelsey lawyer, said Dozi’s prosecutor targeted him for political reasons.

“The star’s witness of its own revoked his testimony,” Wicker said, calling Kelsey an ideal candidate for pardon.