Trump ignites controversy with Silk Road founder pardon

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, decided to pardon a man who was sentenced to double life imprisonment for cybercrimes. According to NBC New York, this decision received mixed reactions from both the public and legal experts.

The pardoned man was known as the king of cybercrime, and he was the creator of Silk Road.

"The infamous dark web marketplace not only served as a hub for illicit drug sales but also emerged as one of the first real-world applications of bitcoin," writes NBC New York.

"Silk Road was like eBay for drugs and weapons - it facilitated trading illegal goods or even ordering hitman services and was one of the first to use bitcoin as a payment system. Interestingly, he was caught only because two agents, posing as a couple, managed to distract him in a public library and physically seize his encrypted laptop while he was still logged in," commented lawyer Maciej Oniszczuk on LinkedIn.

"According to various sources, he had several hundred thousand bitcoins at the time of his arrest, while others claim that 11 years later a wallet with 7,000 bitcoins was activated. When he went to prison, BTC was at $1,000, and today it's 100 times more, which probably made him a multi-billionaire," the lawyer adds.

President Donald Trump signed several executive orders and documents at the White House on Monday. These included declaring a state of emergency at the Mexican border, repealing the right to land, suspending the enforcement of the TikTok law, and pardoning all those convicted for the Capitol assault.

Among the most controversial decisions made by Trump was pardoning or commuting the sentences of almost 1,500 participants in the Capitol assault, including nearly all those charged in this matter. Among them was the leader of the right-wing Proud Boys group, Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to the longest term of 22 years.

Trump claimed that the convicted have been in prison for a long time and were treated unfairly, referring to them as hostages and alleging they were incited to violence by outside agitators, including the FBI.

Trump's actions were indignantly criticized by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose office was vandalized during the riots.

"The President's actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution. t is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power," the politician wrote on social media.