In December 2023, Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle flew to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald J. Trump.
Mr. Trump wanted to know how to win over liberal voters, a constituency that could help him regain the presidency, Ms. McArdle said in an interview. He had an answer: free Ross UlbrichtA Bitcoin pioneer who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for creating Silk Road, the world’s largest online drug marketplace. Mr Ulbricht is regarded as a libertarian hero for building an illegal market beyond the reach of government.
“I like to set people free,” Mr. Trump said, according to Ms. McArdle. Five months later, he hosted the Libertarian Party National Convention, where he announced on stage that, if elected president, he would free Mr. Ulbricht.
On Tuesday, the day after his inauguration, Well done Mr. Trump On that promise. He personally called Mr. Ulbricht’s mother, Lynn Ulbricht, to tell her he had fully forgiven her son, now 40. post On Truth Social, Mr. Trump said the decision was “in honor of him and the libertarian movement, which has supported me so strongly.”
Mr. Ulbricht’s pardon was not an obvious agenda item for Mr. Trump. almost unlike 1,600 who received pardons or commutations The president has had little direct contact with Mr. Ulbricht this week because of his involvement in the Jan. 6 riots. But the move was long in the works, after more than a decade of activism by Mr. Ulbricht’s supporters — including cryptocurrency investors, libertarian politicians and especially Ms. Ulbricht, who has been a vocal advocate for her son’s release.
Many of them enjoyed unusual levels of access to Mr. Trump. Since it became clear last year that Mr. Trump would be the Republican nominee, they have waged a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to secure a pardon — including pledges to raise money for his reelection bid — which has become a case study in how a special interest group can influence the president. can be combined.
Ms. McArdle said she was contacted by Mr. Trump by Richard Grenell, one of her longtime advisers and a former acting director of national intelligence, who suggested that she treated the conversation with Mr. Trump as a business negotiation.
“Rick was like, ‘He’s a deal maker, Angela,'” she said. “Don’t be afraid to ask for something.”
Mr Grenell, Ms Ulbricht and the Trump administration did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Ulbricht’s pardon shows that “if you have people concentrated around Trump, you have a very good chance of a pardon,” said Dan Richman, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Columbia Law School. “There are problems with the amnesty system working that way.”
Mr. Ulbricht launched Silk Road in 2011 and turned it into one of the most popular outposts of the so-called dark web, a hidden corner of the Internet that people can only access through a special browser. Silk Road has facilitated more than 1.5 million transactions, Produces more than $200 million in revenue from the sale of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs, authorities said. Users traded anonymously with bitcoin, then a new cryptocurrency, and could post Amazon-style product ratings.
In 2013, the FBI arrested Mr. Ulbricht in a San Francisco library and charged him with running Silk Road. In court, prosecutors presented evidence that Mr. Ulbricht also solicited the killings of people he considered a threat to the business, although he was never tried on murder-for-hire charges and there was no An indication of a murder.
Prosecutors told the court that at least six people died from drugs bought on the Silk Road. A federal judge in the Southern District of New York, where the case was tried, called Mr Ulbricht “the kingpin of a global digital drug-trafficking enterprise” whose actions were “horribly destructive to our social fabric”. In 2015, he received a life sentence for drug distribution, money laundering and other charges and was eventually transferred to a federal prison in Arizona.
punishment struck some legal experts As harsh as it was it also drew protests from libertarians who opposed tougher drug penalties and crypto enthusiasts who saw Mr. Ulbricht as a pioneer.
Silk Road “onboarded a million people to bitcoin,” said David Bailey, chief executive of the news publication Bitcoin Magazine, which campaigned for Mr. Ulbricht’s release. “He represents many idealistic views of our community.”
From prison, Mr. Ulbricht made his connection to Bitcoin. In October 2018, he sent a letter to his mother celebrating the 10th anniversary of the cryptocurrency’s founding, comparing himself to a “proud parent” of the technology.
“I feel like I’m an isolated father in prison who can’t help raise his child,” he wrote in the letter, which later appeared Published by Bitcoin Magazine.
On social media accounts maintained by his family, Mr Ulbricht also shares artwork, updates on his prison gardening and thoughts on new technology. The accounts posted links to online petitions apologizing. tagging Mr. Trump and members of the Trump family.
Behind the scenes, Ms. Ulbricht worked to popularize the “free Ross” slogan, which became a rallying cry at crypto conferences. He also reached out to Republican politicians and far-right influencers, hoping to reach Mr Trump’s inner circle.
After Mr. Trump lost the 2020 election Mr. Ulbricht is considered freeand at least A lobbyist was paid $22,500 To help ensure his release according to the financial form. But Mr. Trump left office without taking action.
“The higher the hopes, the higher the disappointment, and our hopes for a commutation of the sentence were sky high,” Mr. Ulbricht’s family said. has been posted on social media in January 2021.
The new Republican presidential campaign offers new opportunities.
In 2023, Ms. Ulbricht renewed her push to connect with influential Republicans, including Vivek RamaswamyWho was running for the presidency, two of his close friends. Mr. Ramaswamy, who did not respond to requests for comment, has committed to freeing Mr. Ulbricht if elected and Spoke openly About meeting his mother.
Then in late 2023, Ms. McArdle was contacted by Mr. Grenell, who sought advice on libertarian votes for Mr. Trump, she said. Soon he was on a plane to Florida to meet with Mr. Trump.
In the meeting, Ms. McArdle told Mr. Trump that Mr. Ulbricht was the victim of prosecutorial overreach and a biased criminal justice system, echoing allegations the former president has made since leaving office.
“It’s the same court thing in New York that’s giving you a hard time,” she said he told her.
Last year, Mr. Trump and his staff also met with Mr. Bailey and other representatives of Bitcoin Magazine, who pushed for Mr. Ulbricht’s release. Tracy Hoyos-Lopez, who worked for the magazine, has said That role was publicly arranged by Paul Manafort, Mr Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016. (Ms Hoyos-Lopez is the daughter of Hector Hoyos, a friend and former business partner of Mr Manafort.)
Bailey Mee on social media announcement That he planned to raise a “$100 million war chest for the Trump campaign.” He also visited Mar-a-Lago in June, he said in an interview, where he gave Mr. Trump a letter from Lynn Ulbricht.
By then, Mr. Trump had promised to free Mr. Ulbricht at the Libertarian Party convention. he Double down At a conference in Nashville hosted by Bitcoin Magazine in July, he said he would commute Mr. Ulbricht’s sentence — allowing him to walk free, but not expunge the conviction. At that time, Mr. Trump met privately with Ms. Ulbricht, said Ms. McArdle, who was briefed on the meeting.
Ms McArdle faced Blowback from other libertarians for his treatment of Mr. Trump. But he was still in touch with the new administration last week, urging that Mr. Trump grant Mr. Ulbricht a full pardon, not just a commutation. “Promises made, promises kept,” a Trump staffer emailed him, according to a copy of the message seen by The New York Times.
Tuesday night, Ms. McArdle, Mr. Bailey and Ms. Hoyos-López gathered at a livestream on X to await updates Mr. Bailey told the audience that Ms. Ulbricht was in Arizona, preparing for her son’s release.
Within hours of the pardon, a photo of him was posted on an account on X controlled by Mr. Ulbricht’s family. Leave the prison with a small plant and a sack of supplies.
“FREEDOM!!!!” As stated in the post.
Kenneth P. Vogel Contribution reporting. Susan C. Beachy Contribute research.
