<\/p>\n
Donald Trump quietly pardoned on Tuesday a sports and entertainment executive, Tim Leiweke, who was indicted by the president\u2019s own justice department this year.<\/p>\n
Leiweke, who co-founded Oak View Group, was indicted in July<\/a> for what federal prosecutors alleged was his role in \u201corchestrating a conspiracy to rig the bidding process for an arena at a public university in Austin, Texas\u201d.<\/p>\n Leiweke had pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to restrict trade and was due to stand trial next year.<\/p>\n According to a copy of the pardon<\/a> posted on a justice department website on Wednesday, Trump signed \u201ca full and unconditional pardon\u201d for Leiweke on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The office of the pardon attorney posted the pardon on its website<\/a> on Wednesday, the fifth Trump granted in the past week to powerful people, with no explanation as to why he had terminated a corruption case brought by prosecutors who work for him.<\/p>\n \u201cAs outlined in the indictment, the Defendant rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding,\u201d assistant attorney general Abigail Slater of the justice department\u2019s antitrust division said in July. \u201cThe Antitrust Division and its law enforcement partners will continue to hold executives who cheat to avoid competition accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnfair business practices, like those employed here, make it very difficult for the American people to pursue prosperity like our founders intended,\u201d Justin Simmons, the US attorney for the western district of Texas said in July. Simmons was appointed interim US attorney<\/a> for that office by Trump\u2019s attorney general, Pam Bondi<\/a>, in June.<\/p>\n