June 15, 2019

The Honorable Donald J. Trump

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Re: Commutation for Ross Ulbricht

Dear Mr. President:

My name is Nicholas Sarwark, and I am the chair of the national Libertarian Party, the third-largest
political party in the United States. We are home to 15,000 dues-paying members and voter registration
in the party has increased 92 percent over the past ten years.

I write along with our executive director, Daniel Fishman, in the hope that you will use your executive
authority to commute to time served Ross W. Ulbricht’s unjustifiable double-life plus 40-year sentence
for all non-violent counts. He is a peaceful first-time offender who has the ability to be an outstanding,
contributing member of our society if allowed to live a free life once again.

The Libertarian Party does not weigh in on individual clemency cases lightly. However, the miscarriage
of justice in this case is so shocking, and has drawn such outrage among our members, that we feel
compelled to do so. We proposed a resolution at our national convention requesting that you grant
clemency to Mr. Ulbricht, and it passed ​unanimously.

Our nation’s pledge of allegiance ends “...with liberty and justice for all.” We are nothing as a country if
we allow ourselves to be torn from these principles. One critical element of justice is that a punishment
should fit the crime. Americans honor that idea so intensely that we enshrined it in our Bill of Rights,
which forbids cruel and unusual punishment. We contend that Mr. Ulbricht’s punishment is both. It is
cruel because of the unquestionable harshness of the sentence. It is unusual because disproportionately
lighter sentences have been given to others convicted of similar, or even worse, crimes.

As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Mr.
Ulbricht’s sentence, and the precedent it sets, threatens us all. On behalf of our members across the
nation, I respectfully urge you, Mr. President, to commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence to time served — an
action for which you will be publicly and privately praised by us and all others who believe in second
chances and redemption. Please allow Ross Ulbricht to return to society, where I have no doubt that,
with his skills and intelligence, he will serve humanity well.

With our headquarters based in Washington D.C., we would welcome a chance to explain more
personally.

Sincerely,

Nicholas J. Sarwark Daniel Fishman

Chair Executive Director

The Libertarian National Committee, 1444 Duke St, Alexandria VA 22314 ​www.lp.org