Promise Kept
Donald Trump fulfilled his promise to libertarian voters last night by freeing Ross Ulbricht from prison. In fact, he went above and beyond by issuing a full pardon for Ross rather than the commutation he had initially promised.
If you’re unfamiliar with Ross’s case, I recommend you read this short article from Reason which does a good job of explaining it. My own take is that Ross shouldn’t have created a website that permitted drug transactions and other unsavory actions. I think he got a little carried away with his libertarian anarchist philosophy and didn’t pair it with wisdom and prudence. But it was also manifestly unjust for him to receive two life sentences plus forty years. Violent criminals often get released from jail after serving less time than Ross already has in his decade plus of time behind bars.
This has long been a cause near and dear to the hearts of libertarians, and many of us have been hoping and praying against all odds that Ross would one day be freed. Seeing it actually happen, seeing that photo of Ross walking out of prison is almost beyond belief.
How did this happen? Trump knew that libertarians had the power to cost him the presidency by staying home on Election Day or voting for the Libertarian Party candidate, so he took the unprecedented step of appearing at the Libertarian National Convention this past summer and gave a speech appealing to libertarians to support him for president, and among the many things he said that day, he pledged to free Ross Ulbricht.
I was among the many libertarians who became first-time Trump voters this cycle. For me, the decision came after Trump was tried over 34 felonies in what was a clear-cut case of weaponization of the justice system, but many others jumped on the Trump Train just for Ross. Some big-name libertarians even publicly endorsed Trump in a rare act of strategic thinking from a group not generally known for that. (Hey, I’m a libertarian, so I can say it.)
A lot of libertarians worked very hard to make this happen, but the one who deserves the most credit is LP Chairwoman Angela McArdle, who got Trump to speak at the LNC, made sure Trump knew what a big deal freeing Ross would be to libertarians, and who continued to keep the lines of communication open with Trump and his team on this issue.
Last night, Trump wrote these words on Truth Social:
“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross.
The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern-day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”
Promise made, promise kept. And libertarians won’t soon forget it.