PARDONSBY TRUMP
An independent
public-record archive
Home/The Archive/Imaad Shah Zuberi
Presidential Clemency Record

Imaad Shah Zuberi

Commutation

  /   2025–Present

Record at a Glance

Clemency type
Commutation
Presidential term
2025–Present
Federal district
Central California
Offense
Violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act; tax evasion; foreign, conduit, and other illegal campaign contributions; tampering with a witness, victim or informant (obstruction of justice)
Sentence
144 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $1,750,000 fine; $15,705,080.11 restitution (February 18, 2021)
Current status
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Zuberi's convictions in September 2025 and issued a limited remand on sealed sentencing issues. That appellate disposition did not reverse the convictions; the presidential commutation independently ended the covered custodial and financial sentence terms.

Original Case

Zuberi pleaded guilty to offenses involving foreign-agent registration, tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions and obstruction of justice. On February 18, 2021 he received 12 years in prison, a $1.75 million fine and more than $15.7 million in restitution. DOJ described obstruction of the investigation into a $900,000 Trump inaugural donation; this is documented conduct, not proof of an exchange for clemency.

Clemency

May 28, 2025: commutation of the entire sentence to time served, with no further fines, restitution, probation, or other conditions, in No. 2:19-cr-642. The October 1, 2025 amended warrant extended the same terms to separately listed No. 2:20-cr-00155-1. This was a commutation, not a pardon or judicial reversal.

Trump Connection

Zuberi was a prolific political donor across party lines and gave $900,000 to Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee. His obstruction conviction concerned efforts to impede the investigation of that donation, making his access to Trump’s political orbit part of the criminal case itself. Trump later commuted all remaining custodial and financial punishment. The sequence is documented, but the available evidence does not show that the inaugural contribution bought or caused the grant.

Sources

← Return to the archive