EXCLUSIVEHow Trump's pardon of Silk Road drug kingpin Ross Ulbricht helped seal his presidential victory
Donald Trump's decision to pardon one of the dark web's most notorious kingpins on day two of his presidency stemmed from a secret meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Libertarian leader Angela McArdle.
And DailyMail.com has gone behind the scenes to reveal that Trump's decision was a year-long campaign to win the party's support to secure his presidential victory.
The mastermind behind the online drug den known as the Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, was pardoned from his life sentence by President Trump on Tuesday.
This came after Trump met with Libertarian Party leader McArdle 13 months ago. The two worked out a deal where he would speak at the Libertarian Party's national convention in Washington on May 25, 2024.
It was always going to be difficult to win over the Libertarians and Trump was met with boos when he took the stage. But when he mentioned his vow to free Ulbricht, the crowd erupted in applause.
For Trump, his discussions with McArdle at his political stronghold, Mar-a-Lago, shined a light on the parallels between Ulbricht's case and his own treatment by the Justice Department (DOJ) - which the President believed was 'terrorizing' him.
Trump, who had warmed up to the idea, told McArdle: 'I'll free him, I love freeing people!'
For McArdle, she told DailyMail.com that Tuesday's pardon was the fruit of a 'year's worth of negotiating'.
President Donald Trump's pardoning of Silk Road's mastermind Ross Ulbricht was part of a year-long campaign to win over the Libertarian Party
Trump met with Libertarian Party leader Angela McArdle at his political stronghold Mar-a-Lago in December 2023 where the two worked out a deal to have him appear at a party conference in exchange for pardoning Ulbricht
Ulbricht was pardoned from his life sentence by President Trump on Tuesday, day two of his presidency
Ulbricht, 40, was slated to serve a life sentence for his role in Silk Road, which was described as an Amazon-like website for illegal drugs.
Prosecutors claimed at least six people died as a result of taking drugs they bought on the site - which made Ulbricht $200million and used Bitcoin as its currency.
But for Libertarians who hailed his bit-coin entrepreneurship and free market ideas, freeing Ulbricht was a priority for the party.
In 2023, Richard Grenell, the President's 'envoy for special projects', introduced McArdle to Trump. They arranged a meeting in December of that year at Mar-a-Lago.
Ulbricht, 40, was slated to serve a life sentence for his role in Silk Road, which was described as an Amazon-like website for illegal drugs
McArdle said: 'President Trump was interested in how to get Libertarian support
'I told him that we were running a competing party to the Republicans but I can tell you what we need to do to gain the small libertarian vote.
'We kept an open dialogue. Rick Grenell told me that the President is not a normal politician, you have to ask for something, and try to make a deal.
'The thing that would be easiest politically and most profound to us would be to free Ross Ulbricht, so that's what I asked for.'
President Trump told McArdle he was interested in getting Libertarian support in their December 2023 meeting. She invited him to the Libertarian Party's national convention in May
McArdle said Trump's confidant Rick Grenell arranged the meeting and told her he wasn't a 'normal politician' and she would have to make a deal - so she decided on proposing Ulbricht's release as it would be the most meaningful to the Libertarian Party
Trump was met with boos when he took the stage at the convention. But when he mentioned his vow to free Ulbricht, the crowd erupted in applause
She even thought about proposing a pardon for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, but he had already been released from a British prison after the US decided not to extradite him.
She said: 'The President was interested in Ross. He said "I'll free him, I love freeing people".
'He was warm and receptive to it and receptive to how corrupt the case was.'
But despite the party's feelings on the case, not everyone was happy with the President's decision. DailyMail.com spoke with the father of a 16-year-old who fell to his death after taking drugs bought on the illicit back-door site.
Rodney Bridge said that his son Preston would still be alive if Silk Road hadn't existed and called Trump's decision to pardon Ulbricht a 'kick in the guts'.
Despite this, McArdle and Trump agreed to a deal to secure the kingpin's release: he would come to the Libertarian party convention to 'make his pitch'.
Drawing on the President's own experience of dealing with the DOJ, McArdle recounted: 'He said a few times, it seemed unfair. He said he thought Ross had served enough time.'
A second meeting between McArdle and Trump happened in May last year.
McArdle (middle) said Trump exclaimed 'I love freeing people' and related to Ulbricht's treatment by the DOJ as he also felt they wronged him
Both Trump and McArdle felt like Ulbricht had served enough time for his dark web crimes
McArdle said she wasn't surprised by the pardon's pushback and referenced the arrest of a DEA agent on the case, Carl Force, who was jailed for extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice while undercover
And then Trump made his pardon of Ulbricht a 'Day One' pledge and would fulfill his promise on day two of his administration.
McArdle has brushed aside criticism that Ulbricht deserved a longer sentence.
But critics have pointed out that he was found guilty of a slew of crimes including distributing narcotics, computer hacking, conspiring to traffic in false identity documents and conspiring to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors said he solicited six murders-for-hire in connection to operating the site, although he wasn't put on trial for them and there is no evidence the murders were carried out.
Ulbricht denied any involvement in the plots.
McArdle said that she was 'not surprised there was pushback' towards the pardon and said that one of the FBI agents who worked on the case ended up going to prison.
She appeared to be referring to former DEA agent Carl Force who was jailed for six-and-a-half years in 2015 for extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice which he committed while working undercover on the Silk Road investigation.
In his post online announcing the pardon, Trump said: 'The scum that worked to convict him (Ulbricht) were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of the government against me.'
Rodney Bridge (left) told DailyMail.com he was appalled by the President's decision to pardon Ulbricht after his 16-year-old son died after taking synthetic LSD purchased off Silk Road
Bridge's son Preston, 16, died in February 2013 after falling from a balcony at a hotel in Scarborough after celebrating a school ball and taking two LSD tablets
Bridge, who lives in Perth, Australia, said Trump's decision was a 'kick in the gut' and his son would still be alive if Silk Road hadn't existed
After the election, Ulbricht posted a message on X expressing his 'immense gratitude to everyone who voted for President Trump on my behalf'.
'I can finally see the light of freedom at the end of the tunnel,' the post said.
In Perth, Australia, such comments left Rodney Bridge appalled.
Bridge's son Preston died in February 2013 after falling from a balcony at a hotel in Scarborough after celebrating a school ball.
A court hearing into his death revealed he had taken two tablets of what is thought to have been synthetic LSD bought by a friend from the Silk Road.
Speaking over the phone, Bridge told DailyMail.com: 'I couldn't believe it when I heard the news about the pardon. It was an absolute kick in the guts.
'When you read it in the sentencing, it wasn't just drug dealing, he was involved in all sorts of things, like money laundering.
'He should never have been released. I feel sad for the Americans. I can't believe that decision should be left to one person.
Bridge said that if he could speak to Trump personally, he would say 'how disappointed I am with him' as he previously was 'strong' against drug dealers
Bridge (right) has set up a nonprofit to help people deal with addiction issues and speaks in schools about the dangers of drugs in memory of his son
'I don't get it. I'm a bit in shock, to be honest. It's a kick in the guts to the FBI, to the DEA, everybody.'
Bridge, who has set up a nonprofit to help people deal with addiction issues and speaks in schools about the dangers of drugs, said that the time Ulbricht spent in jail was 'absolutely not' enough.
He said: 'Here in Australia you get caught with killer meth you get life and life here is 17 years. To give him 10 years is a slap in the face.
'One of the biggest things I really struggle with Ross Ulbricht is he decided he wanted to create this site, which allowed people to be able to trade without being identified but the reality is it's not like you who had somebody buying or selling 10 ecstasy tablets.
'It's like they got 10 calcium tablets and put a spot of cyanide in them and sent them to a teenager on the other side of the world. It would be a terrorist's dream to be involved in this.'
Bridge said if he could speak to Trump personally, he would say 'how disappointed I am with him'.
'I'd like to think his attitude would be different if he lost one of his own sons,' he said.
'When Trump was President the first time he was so strong about drug dealers. He said they should all get the death sentence and all of a sudden he's releasing one of the biggest drug dealers on the planet.
Ulbricht warmly thanked the President for the pardon in a statement on X on Thursday
'If you read the judge's comments during sentencing, she said Ulbricht is no different to a drug dealer and terrorist, and she's right.'
Ulbricht's lawyer did not return requests for comment.
But in a statement posted on X on Thursday, Ulbricht warmly thanked the President for the pardon.
He said: 'I was locked up for more than 11 years but he let me out, I'm a free man now so let it be known that Donald Trump is a man of his word.'
Putting his hand on his chest, he said: 'Thank you President Trump for giving me this amazing blessing. I'm so, so grateful to have my life back, to my future back, to have this second chance.'
