Trump commutes donor Imaad Zuberi's foreign-lobbying sentence

On May 28, 2025, President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Imaad Zuberi — a Pakistani-American venture capitalist who had been sentenced in February 2021 to twelve years in federal prison, a $1.75 million fine, and $15.7 million in restitution. Zuberi pleaded guilty to violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, tax evasion, foreign and conduit illegal campaign contributions, and obstruction of justice (witness tampering). His political donations spanned both parties: top fundraiser for Obama's 2012 reelection, "Hillblazer" status with Clinton 2016, and — most directly relevant to this commutation — a $900,000 donation routed through a shell company to Trump's 2017 presidential inaugural committee, the conduit gift he later pleaded guilty to.

The Justice Department issued an amended commutation warrant on October 1, 2025 — the only single-recipient grant on the Office of the Pardon Attorney's list of Trump second-term clemencies for that date — covering the same underlying offenses. Zuberi's criminal defense was handled by David Warrington, who became Trump's White House counsel in 2025; a senior White House official told reporters that Warrington recused himself from deliberations on the commutation. The clemency grant released Zuberi from prison and lifted the financial penalties.