Former President Donald Trump fulfilled a promise made to the Libertarian Party by granting a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road website. Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for operating an online drug marketplace. This move came after a lobbying campaign by Ulbricht’s supporters, including cryptocurrency investors and libertarian politicians, who had been advocating for his release for over a decade.
The relationship between Trump and Ulbricht’s supporters began when Libertarian Party chair Angela McArdle met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2023 to discuss how to win over libertarian voters. McArdle suggested that Trump free Ulbricht, and Trump agreed to do so. After Trump made good on this promise the day after his inauguration, Ulbricht’s family celebrated his release, which had been a long-awaited and hard-fought victory.
Ulbricht’s supporters, including McArdle and Bitcoin Magazine’s CEO David Bailey, used their connections and special interest group status to influence Trump’s decision to grant the pardon. This victory showcases how a concentrated base of people around a president can successfully campaign for pardons. Despite facing criticism from some libertarians for their relationship with Trump, McArdle, Bailey, and others successfully secured Ulbricht’s pardon, allowing him to finally walk free after years of activism and waiting.