Trump pardons ex-NYPD officer who was convicted of helping China stalk an expat

President Donald Trump granted a pardon Friday to a former New York police sergeant who was convicted of helping China try to scare an ex-official into going back to his homeland, a prominent case in U.S. authorities’ efforts to combat what they claim are Beijing’s far-flung efforts to repress critics.

Michael McMahon was sentenced this spring to 18 months in prison for his role in what a federal judge called “a campaign of transnational repression.” He insisted he was innocent, saying he was “unwittingly used” when he took what he thought was a straightforward private-investigator gig.

McMahon said he was told he was working for a Chinese construction company, not the nation’s government.

A White House official, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity to discuss a pardon that hasn’t been publicly announced, pointed to McMahon’s explanation that he’d been misled. The official also noted that McMahon earned dozens of commendations before a 2001 injury ended his 14-year NYPD career.

McMahon’s lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, said the pardon “corrects a horrible injustice.”