Weaponizing the Pardon Power
Since taking office, Trump has wielded the presidential pardon power as a tool of political reward and financial patronage. He has granted clemency to billionaires, corrupt politicians, convicted fraudsters, drug traffickers, and political allies — with little justification rooted in justice or rehabilitation. A New York Times investigation identified a 'pardon industry' built around his White House, with wealthy inmates studying how to secure clemency. A CREW investigation found at least 20 politicians convicted of corruption, bribery, and fraud had received pardons. Recipients have included a crypto billionaire whose exchange Trump has financial ties to, a health care executive whose family had White House connections, the convicted former president of Honduras on drug trafficking charges, and a British billionaire convicted of securities violations. In several cases, federal investigations into the pardons themselves were subsequently shut down by Trump's own Justice Department.
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Two Washington DC Metropolitan Police officers convicted in connection with the 2020 fatal vehicle pursuit of Karon Hylton-Brown and a subsequent cover-up were reinstated to the force after receiving presidential pardons from Trump. Andrew Zabavsky and Terence Dale Sutton Jr. were returned to duty following their pardons, drawing sharp criticism from the ACLU and civil liberties groups who raised concerns about accountability within the department.
Carlos Watson, co-founder of Ozy Media who was convicted of fraud, was granted clemency by Trump through a presidential commutation. Watson was about to begin serving a 10-year sentence when he received news of the commutation.
Trump issued a full and unconditional pardon to Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas city councilwoman and Nevada state lawmaker who had been convicted of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for diverting charitable donations — meant to fund a statue honouring a slain Las Vegas police officer — to pay for her own plastic surgery. Fiore had been awaiting sentencing and facing the possibility of decades in prison; the pardon came less than a week after she lost a bid for a new trial.
Trump pardoned Paul Walczak, an executive whose family sought to publicize Ashley Biden's diary, and also pardoned former Las Vegas Republican lawmaker Michele Fiore. The Las Vegas Review-Journal, owned by Trump mega-donor Miriam Adelson, condemned the Fiore pardon.
Trump pardoned former Virginia sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of accepting over $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing auxiliary deputy sheriffs. Trump also pardoned tax evader Paul Walczak after his mother attended a $1 million fundraising dinner and helped raise millions of dollars for the president.
Trump pardoned Paul Walczak, a Florida health care executive convicted of withholding over $10.9 million in employee taxes, after Walczak's pardon application highlighted his mother Elizabeth Fago's political fundraising for Trump. Fago had raised millions for Trump's campaigns, attended a $1 million fundraising dinner, and had connections to an effort to publicise Ashley Biden's addiction diary to damage Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. Walczak had pleaded guilty to the tax crimes just days after the 2024 election.
Trump pardoned reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who were convicted in 2022 of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million and tax evasion. The pardons are part of an expanding use of presidential clemency powers.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes publicly expressed "disappointment" after Trump pardoned International Union of Operating Engineers president James Callahan on the eve of his federal sentencing. Callahan had pleaded guilty to accepting at least $315,000 in tickets to sporting events, concerts, and other amenities from an advertising firm retained by the union, and failing to properly report them. His attorneys notified the court of the pardon the day before his scheduled sentencing, prompting the judge to vacate the hearing.
Trump issued pardons and commutations for several convicted fraudsters and white-collar criminals, including Todd and Julie Chrisley, Michael Grimm, Scott Jenkins, Devon Archer, Jason Galanis, Rod Blagojevich, Michele Fiore, Brian Kelsey, Trevor Milton, Carlos Watson, Paul Walczak, and Jeremy Hutchinson. Trump claimed in many cases that recipients were unfairly targeted for being his supporters.
Trump issued pardons for drug kingpins while simultaneously escalating rhetoric on the U.S. drug war, presenting a contradictory policy message. The pardons included high-profile cases of individuals convicted of serious drug offenses.
A CREW investigation found Trump has granted clemency to at least 20 politicians convicted of corruption, bribery, fraud, and related charges, with eleven recipients collectively evading roughly 66 years of prison time across 166 corruption counts. Several avoided prison entirely — including a Virginia sheriff pardoned the day before he was due to report, and a Nevada politician pardoned before sentencing after stealing funds meant to honour slain police officers. CREW noted Trump has already surpassed the pace of corruption-related political pardons from his entire first term.
Former congressman George Santos was released from a New Jersey prison after President Trump commuted his sentence for fraud conviction. Santos had served less than three months on his sentence.
President Trump commuted the federal fraud sentence of former Republican congressman George Santos, who had served less than three months of a seven-year prison term. Santos was convicted of deceiving donors and identity theft involving 11 people.
George Santos, the disgraced former congressman sentenced to seven years for fraud and identity theft, stated his prison sentence was "disproportionate" but acknowledged it was a "large slice of humble pie" after his sentence was commuted.
Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao had pleaded guilty to failing to stop money laundering on the platform in 2023 and was sentenced to four months in prison.
Trump said he knows 'nothing' about crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, whom he pardoned last month. Zhao had pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering through his Binance cryptocurrency exchange, which had struck a financial deal involving the Trump family's own venture.
Trump pardoned former law enforcement officer Michael McMahon, convicted of acting as an illegal agent in a conspiracy targeting a Chinese family in New Jersey. The White House claimed he was tricked into the scheme.
President Trump pardoned Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, and dozens of others involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, including false electors. The pardons apply only to federal charges and do not shield recipients from ongoing state-level prosecutions.
Trump issued a flurry of pardons including for Robert Harshbarger Jr., who pleaded guilty to health care fraud and misbranded drug distribution in 2013 and whose wife, Diana Harshbarger, is a Republican member of Congress. Ex-prosecutors and legal scholars criticized the pardons as 'a classic authoritarian tactic' and examples of 'meting out pardons for blatantly corrupt and self-serving ends.'
Trump pardoned British billionaire Joe Lewis, former owner of Tottenham Hotspur, who had been fined $5 million and given three years probation for an insider trading scheme by a New York judge.
Questions emerged over seemingly identical signatures appearing on recent clemency orders issued by Trump, with the White House attributing the discrepancies to a technical error.
Trump announced plans to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who was convicted in Manhattan in 2024 of accepting millions in bribes to protect cocaine shipments and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Trump pardoned a drug trafficker while simultaneously threatening Venezuela, displaying what some observers characterized as contradictory messaging on combating drug trafficking.
Trump granted clemency to David Gentile, a financial executive who had just begun serving a seven-year prison sentence for his role in a $1.6 billion fraud scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.
Trump moved to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, Honduras's former president, despite Hernández being convicted on drug trafficking charges. Critics argue this contradicts Trump's administration's anti-drug efforts.
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of cocaine trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in prison, was pardoned by Trump and released from custody. The pardon came amid a contentious presidential election in Honduras where results showed two candidates separated by approximately 500 votes.
President Trump pardoned Tim Leiweke, former CEO of Oak View Group, who had been charged with federal antitrust violations for allegedly rigging the bidding process for the Moody Center arena in Austin, Texas. The White House offered no public explanation for the pardon.
Convicted investment fraudster David Gentile will not be required to pay $15.5 million in court-ordered restitution following President Trump's commutation of his sentence, according to the clemency grant signed in late November. Gentile and his business partner Jeffry Schneider were convicted in August 2024 of conspiring to defraud thousands of investors in a $1.6 billion capital funds scheme. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterised the commutation as correcting 'weaponization of justice from the previous administration.'
President Trump pardoned Tim Leiweke, an entertainment executive who was indicted by his own Justice Department for allegedly orchestrating a conspiracy to rig bidding for an arena at a public university. This summer, Trump administration officials had publicly lauded the indictment as an effort to root out corruption.
Trump has granted clemency to more than 1,800 people, but experts report that some recipients have been arrested again. Investigators found that Trump did not follow the usual review process, making it more likely that clemency recipients would commit other crimes.
Trump criticized Representative Henry Cuellar for lacking loyalty after pardoning him on bribery charges, as Cuellar announced his House re-election bid as a Democrat rather than switching parties.
Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, publicly thanked Trump for pardoning him on drug-trafficking charges, describing the pardon as having changed his life.
Trump pardoned former Colorado elections clerk Tina Peters, but the pardon has limited practical effect since she was convicted of state crimes over which Trump has no legal authority. Peters remains incarcerated despite the symbolic pardon.
Trump commuted the sentence of David Gentile, a fraudster convicted in a $1.6 billion investment scheme that defrauded thousands. Victims have expressed outrage that Gentile spent only days in prison before receiving the commutation.
Colorado officials rejected Trump's stated intention to pardon Tina Peters, a convicted election denier imprisoned for tampering with election machines in 2020, triggering a legal battle over the scope of presidential pardon powers.
Arkansas judge orders Trump-pardoned nursing home owner to report to state prison. Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Karen Whatley ordered Joseph Schwartz — whose federal tax fraud conviction was pardoned by President Trump in November — to report to the Ouachita River Correctional Unit by December 29 to serve the remaining nine months of his state sentence for Medicaid fraud and state tax evasion. Schwartz's attorneys argued that three months served in federal prison made him immediately eligible for parole; the judge rejected the argument, ruling that parole eligibility is determined by the Department of Corrections, not the court. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, who filed the petition, said Trump's federal pardon "has no bearing on his obligations to the State."
Trump commuted the remaining federal prison sentence of James Phillip Womack, son of U.S. Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), via a White House clemency order.
The Trump administration continues to grant clemency to convicted fraudsters, drawing scrutiny as the president and Republicans appear intent on investigating fraud in Democratic-run states.
New York Times investigation reveals a 'pardon industry' has emerged around the Trump administration, with wealthy inmates studying the blueprint of Joseph Schwartz, who spent nearly $1 million on lobbyists and operatives to secure his presidential pardon. Schwartz paid right-wing operatives claiming ties to Trump confidante Laura Loomer, a lobbyist connected to pro-Israel evangelical networks, and lawyers with personal relationships with Trump's 'pardon czar' Alice Marie Johnson and White House counsel David Warrington — walking free after just three months of a three-year federal sentence. Fellow inmates at Otisville federal prison camp have been studying Schwartz's campaign, raising questions about whether clemency under Trump is effectively for sale.
A New York lawyer named Joshua Nass was charged with attempting to extort $600,000 from a client who had received a Trump pardon. Nass had played a role in securing the pardon for Joseph Schwartz, a former nursing home executive convicted of failing to pay $40 million in taxes.
MS NOW published an investigation into David Gentile's clemency, part of a new series 'Justice Interrupted' examining Trump's controversial pardons and their impact on victims. Gentile and his business partner were convicted in 2024 of a $1 billion fraud that victimised as many as 17,000 investors. Trump commuted Gentile's seven-year sentence just 12 days into his imprisonment — despite his own Justice Department having celebrated the original sentencing. Victims, including one woman who lost $500,000, described the clemency as 'a betrayal' and 'an injustice to the system.'
Trump signaled he will issue mass pardons before the end of his term, according to reports. Details on the scope and beneficiaries of the pardons remain unclear.
A company led by Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, who was previously pardoned by Trump, has won a $106 million federal contract to monitor prisoners' phone calls, though there is no evidence his Trump connections influenced the contract award.
President Trump pardoned Stephen Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana who was convicted of insider trading in 2023 after serving nearly two years in prison for using nonpublic information to trade stocks.
The Trump administration shuttered a federal criminal probe into the circumstances behind the commutation of fraudster David Gentile's sentence, which was aided by a Catholic priest with ties to the president.
President Trump pardoned 11 people on July 3rd, including nine individuals convicted of violating the Clean Air Act, and a major donor involved in fraud connected to Jack Abramoff.
Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced to 45 years in the US on drug trafficking charges, returned home after receiving a pardon from Trump.
A Honduran court dismissed money laundering and fraud charges against former President Juan Orlando Hernández after Trump pardoned him in December 2025, effectively making him a free man and resolving government corruption accusations.
Trump granted clemency to 30 individuals, including Emory Jones, a Roc Nation executive and Jay-Z's longtime associate, who had a federal drug conviction.
President Trump pardoned Emory Jones, a longtime friend and business associate of Jay-Z and executive at his Roc Nation company. Jones was convicted in 2000 of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and sentenced to 188 months in federal prison. A letter from Jay-Z helped secure a 37-month reduction in 2010. The pardon was facilitated by Alice Marie Johnson, Trump's 'pardon czar,' as part of a batch of 30 clemencies.
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