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Extensive Trump pardon list leaves off 'Tiger King' Joe Exotic; 'I was too innocent', Joe says

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Posted at 10:25 AM, Jan 20, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-20 17:32:42-05

OKLAHOMA CITY — One name missing in President Donald Trump’s long list of last minute of pardons is “Tiger King” Joe Exotic.

The zookeeper-turned-reality-TV-star is serving a 22-year federal prison sentence in Texas.

In response to being left off the list, Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, sent a message to fans through Twitter.

"I only mattered to Don Jr. when he needed to make a comment about me to boost his social media post. Boy were we all stupid to believe he actually stood for Equal Justice?" Maldonado-Passage tweeted.

His backers were so confident in a pardon that they sent a limousine and a hair and wardrobe team for Maldonado-Passage. But he wasn’t on the list announced Wednesday morning.

He was convicted for his role in a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting his rival, Carole Baskin, who runs a rescue sanctuary for big cats in Florida.

He also was convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.

Maldonado-Passage has maintained his innocence.