Trump Pardons Ross Ulbricht

by Steve MacDonald

In May of 2024, Donald Trump appeared at the Libertarian Party Convention – before it devolved into self-inflicted dysfunctional chaos – and promised to pardon Ross Ulbricht. He’s one of The Deep State’s examples. A guy who advanced the anti-central-banking monopoly created by crypto (for good or bad). The FBI and DOJ decided to hold him responsible for the anonymous undercover drug network it spawned and what it claims but could not prove were murders that resulted.

It also advanced an idea opposed to a one-sided state interest. You can’t control the people if they have their own unregulated currency or something.

His arrest brought to an end what prosecutors described as a global, black market bazaar that for two years starting in 2011 was used by more than 100,000 people to buy and sell $214 million worth of illegal drugs and other illicit services.

Prosecutors said some people died due to drugs bought on Silk Road.

The Silk Road website relied on the Tor network to communicate anonymously and accepted bitcoin as payment, which prosecutors said allowed users to conceal their identities and locations.

Prosecutors said Ulbricht ran Silk Road under the alias Dread Pirate Roberts, a reference to a character in the 1987 movie “The Princess Bride,” and took extreme steps to protect the marketplace’s operation.

Recent pleas for Ross’ release were featured here this past week, along with those to free Roger Ver and Ian Freeman.

The event emphasized the hypocrisy harbored by our government in these injustices. “How can you accuse Ian Freeman of ‘conspiracy to commit money laundering’ for running a BTC kiosk/atm, but no bank managers are being similarly accused and harassed? This type of selective enforcement is just another corrupt lawfare tactic that erodes public trust and undermines the rule of law,” said Free State Project President, Carla Gericke. 

I can’t say why Ross, whose alleged connections appeared far more nefarious, got precedent, but Trump said he would and did. He pardoned Ross on day two. I hope that’s a good enough start.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an underground online marketplace where drug dealers and others conducted more than $200 million in illicit trade using bitcoin.

The Republican president made good on a campaign pledge to free Ulbricht, 40, who was arrested in 2013 and sentenced in 2015 in what became a landmark U.S. prosecution launched only a few years after the emergence of the popular cryptocurrency.

“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump said the pardon was “full and unconditional” and said he called Ulbricht’s mother to break the news to her. Ulbricht was released from a federal prison in Arizona late on Tuesday following Trump’s announcement, according to federal Bureau of Prisons records.

Author

  • Steve MacDonald

    Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, award-winning blogger, and a member of the Board of Directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor, Executive Editor, assistant editor, Editor, content curator, complaint department, Op-ed editor, gatekeeper (most likely to miss typos because he has no editor), and contributor at GraniteGrok.com. Steve is also a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, The Republican Volunteer Coalition, has worked for or with many state and local campaigns and grassroots groups, and is a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

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