A federal judge who attacked President Donald Trump for pardoning two political staffers who had engaged in election fraud has died at the age of 78. Judge Robert Pratt, who served 26 years on the bench, suffered a heart attack at a gym in Clive, Iowa, last Wednesday, his son Michael said. Pratt derided John Tate and Jesse Benton, aides to Ron Paul during his 2012 presidential campaign, who were found guilty of paying state Sen. Kent Sorenson $73,000 to switch his endorsement to their boss just days before the Iowa caucus. In 2017 Pratt sentenced Sorenson to 15 months in prison, calling it “the definition of political corruption.” In 2020, when Trump pardoned Benton and Tate, Pratt told the Associated Press, “It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals.” He added, “But apparently to get a pardon, one has to be either a Republican, a convicted child murderer or a turkey.” Trump had also pardoned Blackwater Worldwide personnel who were convicted for the 2007 killing of a 9-year-old boy and 13 other Iraqi civilians. Pratt later apologized for “the wrongfulness of the comments,” adding, “I regret the embarrassment they have caused to my court and the judiciary in general.”
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