President Trump has granted clemency to Stephen K. Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who was charged with defrauding political donors who supported building a border wall that Mr. Trump supported, White House officials said.
The president made the decision after a day of frantic efforts to sway his thinking, including from Mr. Bannon, who spoke to him by phone on Tuesday.
The pardon was described as a pre-emptive move that would effectively wipe away the charges against Mr. Bannon, should he be convicted.
Bannon faces a federal case that began in August when New York federal prosecutors charged him and three others with defrauding donors of more than a million dollars as part of a fundraising campaign purportedly aimed at supporting Trump’s border wall.
