A profound disconnect often exists between executive legal maneuvers in Washington and the consequences felt by everyday citizens. That tension came into focus when President Donald Trump pardoned a controversial white-collar fraudster. For John Long, an 80-year-old retired pig farmer from Colorado, the decision was particularly painful because he was one of the fraudster’s victims. It was made even more complicated by the fact that Long once identified as a proud Trump voter.
To understand Long’s frustration, it is necessary to go back to 2006, when Marian Morgan and her husband, John Morgan, targeted rural investors through a Ponzi scheme. The couple operated under the banner of Morgan European Holdings and presented themselves as elite financial advisers to vulnerable investors who had few ways of independently verifying their claims.
