Former President Donald Trump vowed to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the “Silk Road” website, during a Saturday speech.
Ulbricht was sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years in prison for creating the site that was used for a wide variety of illegal transactions, including the sale of narcotics, hacking services and false IDs, according to a 2015 Justice Department press release. Trump announced his intention to commute Ulbricht’s sentence during the address to the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C.
“If you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht who will have a sentence of time served,” Trump told the attendees, who broke out into applause after booing the former President on some occasions during the speech. “He‘s already served 11 years. We are going to get him home. We are going to get him home.”
WATCH:
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said in a June 2022 post on X he had requested Trump commute Ulbricht’s sentence.
During the speech, Trump also vowed to protect holders of digital currency, vowing, “I will keep Elizabeth Warren and her goons away from your bitcoin.”
Trump’s invitation drew controversy, with some delegates to the convention opposing the decision to have him speak, Politico reported.
“I would like to propose that we go tell Donald Trump to go fuck himself!” New Mexico delegate Kaelan Dreyer said before he directed obscenities at the convention’s chairperson before being escorted out of the event.
BREAKING:
Donald Trump says “I will ensure that the future of crypto and #Bitcoin will be made in the USA”
“I will support the right to self custody to the nations 50 million crypto holders” pic.twitter.com/OSfUL91McJ
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 26, 2024
“President Trump, or at least his team, perceive themselves as needing our votes,” Libertarian Party National Chair Angela McArdle, who introduced Trump at the event, told Politico. “They’re willing to come and speak to us, to listen to us. That’s really unprecedented. Why wouldn’t we take that opportunity?”
Trump leads Biden by 1.1% in the RealClearPolitics average of general election polls for a head-to-head matchup as of Saturday, with the lead growing to 2.4% when Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included. Kennedy spoke at the Libertarian convention Friday.
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