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44 ¦ JANUARY 4, 2021 EXPERT OPINIONS

George Papadopoulos Deserved His
Pardon. Here’s Why

By Caroline Johnston Polisi

E ditor’s note: President Donald Trump
pardoned George Papadopoulos, a foreign pol-
icy adviser to the president’s 2016 campaign,
last week. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to

federal investigators during special counsel Robert

Mueller’s probe. Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14

days incarceration, 12 months of supervised release,

200 hours of community service and a fine of $9,500.
My client George Papadopoulos and I have dif-
ferent political views. I don’t believe in the “deep
state.” He does. I don’t know if he was spied on by
“western intelligence” during his brief stint as a for-
eign policy adviser on the Trump Campaign. He
believes he was.
But we are united in our certitude that his pros-
ecution for alleged false statements made during a Caroline Polisi, partner with Armstrong Teasdale.
voluntary FBI interview in which he participated Courtesy Photo

without the benefit of counsel or preparation was What most people don’t know about Papadopou-
fundamentally unfair and that he deserved a par- los’ case is that he was also originally charged with
don. And after drafting his pardon application, I the far more serious crime of obstruction of justice.
decided to take a less traditional route than submit- For context, Papadopoulos served 12 days in prison
ting it to the U.S. Department of Justice. for the false statements count. Also for context, and
The perpetual refrain from cable news out- contrary to the popular narrative that he got a mere
lets about the news of Papadopoulos’ pardon has “slap on the wrist,” Papadopoulos’ sentence was dis-
been some version of: “But he pleaded guilty!” proportionately harsh.
as if that’s the gold standard in terms of getting Nationally, the majority of defendants charged
at the “truth.” Ask any seasoned criminal defense with the same crime in his circumstances do not
attorney (or any truthful prosecutor, for that mat- serve a single day in jail. The sentencing judge in
ter) and they will tell you that defendants plead Papadopoulos’ case even noted that over the past
guilty to crimes they didn’t commit in courtrooms 10 years in his district, of similarly situated defen-
across this country, every single day. Our prisons dants, only one other person was sentenced to serve
are filled with inmates—rich and poor (although any time in prison, and that was former Skadden,
more poor), white and Black (although more Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom associate Alexander
Black), who, for reasons having nothing to do with van der Zwaan, who was also prosecuted by the
actual guilt or innocence, took a deal. And that is special counsel’s office, and also granted a pardon
a fact that gets short shrift in our national discus- last week. So while most defendants merely get pro-
sion surrounding the Mueller investigation. bation for this crime, Papadopoulos received jail

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