Former New York Observer editor Ken Kurson pleaded guilty Wednesday to two misdemeanors, resolving a long legal saga that included being pardoned by former President Trump, reports the Wall Street Journal. Kurson, 53, admitted in a New York state court to attempted computer trespassing and attempted eavesdropping. if he completes 100 hours of community service within a year and doesn’t break the law, prosecutors will consent to the plea being withdrawn and replaced with a violation, which is an offense lower than a misdemeanor. Last year, the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged Kurson with illegally accessing communications of his then wife while at the Observer offices. Kurson used spyware to monitor his wife’s keystrokes, obtained her passwords and accessed her Facebook and Gmail accounts.
Kurson had long been a member of Trump’s circle, having once been the editor in chief of the Observer, the newspaper that was published by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. Kurson also served as an adviser to Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign. In October 2020, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged Kurson with cyberstalking crimes, alleging he used multiple aliases to file complaints about two victims with their employer and posted false negative reviews on Yelp about a third victim. He pleaded not guilty. Trump pardoned Kurson several months later while the case was pending. Kurson is the third person pardoned by Trump known to face separate scrutiny from the Manhattan district attorney’s office.