Trump Pardons Mississippian in Final Hours of Presidency

One of the people pardoned during Donald Trump’s final hours as president is a Mississippi physician who pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in 2012. Dr. Robert S. Corkern led Batesville Hospital Management, which handled business operations for Tri-Lakes Medical Center in Batesville. Federal court records show Corkern admitted that on March 28, 2007, he paid $25,000 to the Panola County administrator as a bribe for the administrator’s role in securing a $400,000 county payment to the rural hospital. A White House news release said Trump’s pardon of Corkern is supported by Mississippi’s two Republican U.S. senators, Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith; and Republican former Gov. Phil Bryant. ap)