Trump admin live updates: Trump pardons former entertainment exec indicted by own DOJ

President Donald Trump has pardoned Tim Leiweke, a former entertainment executive who was indicted just months ago by the Department of Justice for allegedly orchestrating a bid-rigging scheme.

The pardon, dated Dec. 2, was posted online by the DOJ. Trey Gowdy, a close ally of Trump, represented Leiweke in the matter. A source familiar with the matter told ABC News that Gowdy has actively pushed the administration to drop charges or grant Leiweke a pardon.

A federal grand jury indicted Leiweke in July "for orchestrating a conspiracy to rig the bidding process for an arena at a public university in Austin, Texas."

“As outlined in the indictment, the Defendant rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding,” the head of DOJ's antitrust division, Abigail Slater, said in a press release at the time. “The Antitrust Division and its law enforcement partners will continue to hold executives who cheat to avoid competition accountable.”

The circumstances surrounding the pardon are unclear. And the White House has not provided an explanation as to why Trump would issue a pardon to someone his own Justice Department investigated and indicted just months earlier.

Leiweke has a track record of slamming Trump, calling him the "world's single greatest con man" in a now-deleted social media post in 2024.

In a 2023 social media post, Leiweke also praised former Vice President Mike Pence "for standing up and fighting for our Constitution and due process."

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders

Trump was asked about the pushback from Minnesota leaders over his anti-immigrant rhetoric and attacks on Somali immigrants.

The president continued his criticism of the community, the majority of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens, according to the U.S census, and took aim again at U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Trump said Omar, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, "shouldn't be allowed to be a congresswoman."

"Go back to your own country," Trump later said.

Hours after President Donald Trump announced he granted a pardon to Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, who were indicted on charges including bribery in 2024, Trump said he is a "respected person."

"He's a respected person. He was treated very badly because he said that people should not be allowed to pour into our country, and he was right," Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Prosecutors alleged that Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, began accepting the roughly $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company owned by Azerbaijan's government as well as a bank headquartered in Mexico City.

ABC News' Selina Wang questioned Trump on the Sept. 2 strike and possible consequences for military officials.

"If it is found that survivors were actually killed while clinging on to that boat, should Secretary Hegseth, Adm. Bradley or others be punished?" she asked.

"I think you're going to find that this is war," Trump responded before talking about how drugs were killing Americans.

Wang followed up, asking Trump if he supported "the decision to kill survivors."

"No, I support the decision to knock out the boats," Trump responded.