<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">President Trump has pardoned an imprisoned former Tennessee state senator who was two weeks into a 21-month sentence for his role in a campaign finance fraud scheme.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Inmate records show that the former lawmaker, Brian Kelsey, a Republican, was released from a minimum-security satellite camp at FCI Ashland in Kentucky on Tuesday, the same day, his lawyer said, that he received a clemency letter from the president. The lawyer, Joy​​​​ Longnecker, provided a copy of the letter to The New York Times on Wednesday.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Kelsey in 2021 with five criminal counts that stemmed from his failed 2016 congressional bid, to which, they said, he had illegally funneled money. He pleaded guilty in 2022 in an arrangement with prosecutors, but he later tried to withdraw from it — a motion that was denied.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Federal prosecutors accused Mr. Kelsey of trying to hide the movement of $91,000 to support his congressional bid, $66,000 of which they said came from his State Senate campaign committee. They also said that he had illegally coordinated with an outside group to make independent political expenditures in support of his campaign.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Kelsey, 47, repeatedly blamed his legal predicament on what he said had been the weaponization of the Justice Department during the Biden administration, echoing a favorite line of Mr. Trump during his political comeback.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“God used Donald Trump to save me from the weaponized Biden DOJ,” Mr. Kelsey wrote Tuesday on X, announcing that he had received a pardon.</p><div class="css-1336jj"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171quhb"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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