Latest news with #Oyer
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fired DOJ official knocks ‘unprecedented' Trump administration pardons
Former Department of Justice pardon attorney Liz Oyer said the Trump administration's policy for pardons is 'unprecedented.' 'Pardons are normally reserved for people who show remorse for a crime they have been convicted of and who have actually served at least some and typically all of their sentence and have shown personal growth and rehabilitation during that time,' she said in an interview aired Tuesday by PBS. 'However, this administration appears to be using pardons in a completely different and new way, which is to reward people who demonstrate political loyalty to the administration. And that is unprecedented,' she added. Oyer said she was dismissed from her role at the department after failing to recommend actor Mel Gibson's gun ownership rights be restored; he lost them after he was convicted of domestic violence. She has since raised concern about the internal and external operations at the department, including Ed Martin's appointment to be pardon attorney. 'It sends a message that the pardon power is now being totally and thoroughly politicized, that it will be used as a benefit to those who are supporters of the president and not for those who do not express political loyalty,' she told PBS. 'That is really an unprecedented use of the pardon power. And just the fact of Martin's appointment to the position of pardon attorney is really striking, because that is a position that historically has always been filled by a nonpolitical appointee,' she added. Martin was pulled as President Trump's nominee for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia after lawmakers questioned his ability to remain nonpartisan and act ethically. The Trump administration has faced backlash for recently pardoning Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who had been convicted of bribery, and Jan. 6 rioters. 'At the end of the day, the president has plenary power under the Constitution to grant clemency to whomever he chooses, but it is important to have someone in a nonpolitical position providing that advice to the president about who should receive clemency and ensuring that individuals who do not have political connections can still have their applications considered,' Oyer said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Fired DOJ official knocks ‘unprecedented' Trump administration pardons
Former Department of Justice pardon attorney Liz Oyer said the Trump administration's policy for pardons is 'unprecedented.' 'Pardons are normally reserved for people who show remorse for a crime they have been convicted of and who have actually served at least some and typically all of their sentence and have shown personal growth and rehabilitation during that time,' she said in an interview aired Tuesday by PBS. 'However, this administration appears to be using pardons in a completely different and new way, which is to reward people who demonstrate political loyalty to the administration. And that is unprecedented,' she added. Oyer said she was dismissed from her role at the DOJ after failing to recommend actor Mel Gibson's gun ownership rights be restored; he lost them after he was convicted of domestic violence. She has since raised concern about the internal and external operations at the Justice Department, including Ed Martin's appointment to pardon attorney. 'It sends a message that the pardon power is now being totally and thoroughly politicized, that it will be used as a benefit to those who are supporters of the president and not for those who do not express political loyalty,' she told PBS. 'That is really an unprecedented use of the pardon power. And just the fact of Martin's appointment to the position of pardon attorney is really striking, because that is a position that historically has always been filled by a nonpolitical appointee,' she added. Martin was pulled as President Trump's nominee for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia after lawmakers questioned his ability to remain nonpartisan and act ethically. The Trump administration has faced backlash for recently pardoning Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who had been convicted of bribery, and January 6th rioters. 'At the end of the day, the president has plenary power under the Constitution to grant clemency to whomever he chooses, but it is important to have someone in a nonpolitical position providing that advice to the president about who should receive clemency and ensuring that individuals who do not have political connections can still have their applications considered,' Oyer said in her interview.
Gizmodo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
That DOJ Lawyer Fired for Refusing to Give Mel Gibson His Guns Back Is on TikTok to Explain Trump's Pardons
Liz Oyer was fired from the U.S. Department of Justice in March after she refused to recommend that actor Mel Gibson be allowed to own firearms again after a domestic violence conviction. The Trump regime tried to pressure Oyer, who worked in the office that handles pardons, by noting that Gibson was a friend of the president. But she refused to budge and was escorted out of the building by security on the order of DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Oyer never received an official reason for her dismissal, but it was clear that it had everything to do with her refusal to recommend that Gibson get his gun rights back. In an earlier era, the American public may not have heard much more about Oyer and her stand against corruption. But thanks to social media, she now has a direct channel to speak with the public and can help us understand the dirty deals that seem to be perpetrated by President Trump's government on a daily basis. Oyer has joined TikTok and Instagram to help explain how the pardons Trump has been issuing, often to wealthy donors, are corrupt as hell. And it's really enlightening to watch. Oyer's most popular TikTok video so far is about restitution, the requirement that people who commit crimes pay back the money they stole, and she does a great job explaining how Trump's pardons of countless crooks have meant that roughly $1.2 billion in restitution (and counting) won't be paid back. Because those pardons don't just wipe the convictions, they also wipe out any money owed. @ More on Donald Trump's $1 billion in pardons. Today, let's talk about Michele Fiore, pardoned for stealing from a memorial fund for fallen police officers. ♬ original sound – Liz Oyer In the case of people like Trevor Milton, the founder of EV company Nikola, who was pardoned by Trump last month, the amount of money that's no longer owed in restitution is truly mind-boggling. Milton was convicted of defrauding investors, and the DOJ was seeking $675 million in restitution for his victims. But now that Milton has his pardon, he won't be paying a dime. As Oyer explains in her video about Milton, the billionaire donated $1.8 million to President Trump's campaign. Milton also hired an attorney named Brad Bondi, who's the brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Funny coincidence. @ More on Trump's $1B in pardons. Talking today about the biggest single pardon: Trevor Milton, who committed a $675 million fraud. ♬ original sound – Liz Oyer Hilariously, the President defended his pardon of Milton by insisting that the only thing the EV founder did wrong was support Trump, which isn't a crime. 'They say the thing that he did wrong was he was one of the first people that supported a gentleman named Donald Trump for president. He supported Trump. He liked Trump. I didn't know him, but he liked him,' Trump rambled incoherently. In reality, Milton staged a fake demonstration in 2016 of a semi-truck for his investors. That's what got him in trouble. Oyer spoke to Gizmodo this week and calls herself a 'social media neophyte.' She had a private Instagram account but no other social media use to speak of—that is, until last week when a family member pushed her to try TikTok. Oyer had some important tips, including the suggestion to introduce yourself early in each video, something that's not obvious to first-time creators on platforms where people speak directly to the camera. 'A younger cousin of mine really encouraged me to take my story to TikTok because they believed that I would potentially reach a larger and different audience there. And it took some prodding,' Oyer told Gizmodo by phone. 'A couple of content creators with a lot of followers, including my cousin, were kind enough to sit me down and give me a 90-minute tutorial on how TikTok works. And after that, it still took me maybe about a week to actually work up the courage to make a video for TikTok,' said Oyer. 'So it was a process. And I have to admit that I was skeptical at first about whether it was something that I could even do,' said Oyer. 'But, you know, I actually feel like they were right. It's been a very effective way to reach a different and very engaged audience.' Oyer started as a public defender and said that her work at the DOJ was striving to make sure that people who had been treated unfairly got a chance to receive clemency. 'My primary goal as pardon attorney was to really make the clemency process accessible to people who had been treated unfairly by the criminal justice system and to make the possibility of clemency a reality for those people who had faced sentences that were overly harsh,' said Oyer. 'And those people are not the type of people that we are seeing getting pardons under this administration.' The people Trump has been pardoning have largely been wealthy individuals who donated money to his interests or people who have demonstrated loyalty. And in some cases, it's both. Aside from the money that will no longer be paid in restitution, the thing that makes Trump's pardons so egregious is the simple fact that many of the people he's letting off weren't even sentenced yet. That's not normal. 'The Justice Department has a whole set of guidelines that lay out the criteria for recommending pardons, and they say that someone should not even be considered for a pardon until they have completed their sentence and at least five years have passed since they finished serving their sentence,' said Oyer. 'So historically, pardons are generally viewed as something that go to people who have served their sentence, paid their debt, demonstrated rehabilitation and good conduct in the time that has elapsed. And those criteria are all absent in every one of the pardons that Trump has granted to date.' Oyer tells the stories of people like Paul Walczak, the health care entrepreneur who was skimming money from his employees' paychecks, and Michele Fiore, the justice of the peace in Las Vegas who raised money for a police officer memorial and instead spent the money on plastic surgery. And each pardon is more enraging than the last for its obviously corrupt motives. Oyer was asked to testify on Capitol Hill about Trump's attacks on the rule of law, and her former employer has tried to intimidate her over her desire to speak out. As Oyer told Democrats last month, two armed special deputy U.S. Marshals delivered a letter warning her not to testify. But she's speaking out anyway. Oyer says that she's received some trolling from pro-Trump folks but has mostly had positive interactions on social media so far, with some people even asking good questions that have given her ideas for future videos. And Oyer tells Gizmodo she'll continue making videos for a while, as long as people are interested in what she has to say. If you're not already following Oyer, she's one to check out as she helpfully breaks down Trump's corruption using expertise that provides unique insights into the horrors. And if we can't stop the horrors, at least we can be told that none of this is normal. The pardons, the exchange of money, none of it is normal. Being told that by someone who knows what they're talking about is at least something.
The Guardian
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump white-collar criminal pardons cost public $1bn, says ex-DoJ official
The justice department's pardon attorney, who was recently fired, has claimed on social media that Donald Trump's recent wave of pardoning white-collar criminals has erased more than '$1bn in debts owed by wealthy Americans' to the public purse. In a TikTok video, Liz Oyer, who has said that she was terminated in March after refusing to comply with an order to restore the gun rights of the actor Mel Gibson – a supporter of Trump's – explained that 'when you're convicted of a financial crime like fraud or embezzlement, the law requires you to pay back the money that you stole. It's called restitution.' However, she said, 'the president has the power to pardon which can wipe out your entire sentence including your obligation to pay back the money.' Oyer alleged that 'in total, Donald Trump has granted pardons that have wiped out over $1bn in debts owed by wealthy Americans who have committed fraud and broken the law.' In the video, Oyer highlights the case of Michele Fiore, a former Republican politician from Nevada, who was convicted of wire fraud last year. She was accused of misusing more than $70,000 she raised to build statues in honor of two slain police officers. Instead of building the statues, prosecutors said that she used the funds on 'personal and political expenses'. The White House pardoned Fiore, and according to Oyer, this released her from repaying those funds. In a different video, Oyer pointed to Trump's pardon of Trevor Milton, the founder of an electric vehicle startup, who was convicted of fraud in 2023 and sentenced to four years in prison. The Washington Post reported that the judge had not yet determined the restitution amount, but that federal prosecutors estimated that Milton owed over $680m to defrauded shareholders. Notably, Milton and his wife contributed more than $1.8m to a Trump re-election campaign. Oyer said his pardon erased the restitution being sought. The Post reported that Oyer added up the alleged restitution amounts for the relevant individuals convicted of stealing. The newspaper also noted that some of Trump's pardon recipients had not yet been sentenced, so their owed amounts had not been finalized by the courts. Additionally, the Post reported that Trump pardoned the cryptocurrency exchange HDR Global Trading (BitMEX), which eliminated a $100m fine against the exchange for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Trump also pardoned several company executives who had pleaded guilty to financial crimes. Oyer told the Post it was 'unprecedented for a president to grant pardons that have the effect of wiping out so much debt owed by people who have committed frauds'. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian. Last month, Oyer, who served in Joe Biden's administration, testified before Congress about her termination and the Trump administration's treatment of the justice department and law firms. According to Oyer's lawyer, the justice department had planned to send armed US marshals to deliver a letter to her home warning her about testifying.
Washington Post
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Fired DOJ attorney says on TikTok that Trump pardons cost $1 billion
Liz Oyer, the Justice Department's recently fired pardon attorney, made a staggering claim on social media this week: President Donald Trump's pardons of people convicted of white-collar crimes have cost Americans $1 billion. She arrived at the number by adding up all the money that people who were pardoned allegedly owed in restitution, based on how much they were convicted of stealing. Some pardon recipients had not been sentenced, which means that a judge had not yet ruled on prosecutors' calculations of what they owed back to their victims. At least one pardon recipient had already started paying restitution and could attempt to get that money back. Oyer, who has been outspoken against the Trump administration since her ouster, told The Washington Post that the $1 billion figure highlights the unusually high number of Republican allies convicted of fraud and pardoned by Trump before they served their sentences — a significant break from the traditional and often protracted pardon application process. We'll explain below how the pardon system usually works, whom Trump has pardoned in his second term and why Oyer believes that Trump's latest pardons are costing Americans more than those granted by past presidents. Presidents have almost unfettered power to grant clemency, intended as a tool to show mercy and correct injustice. Commutations cut short federal prison terms, while pardons show forgiveness and help former defendants obtain employment and regain civil rights, such as voting and gun ownership. The Pardon Attorney's Office is responsible for reviewing applications for clemency and forwarding recommendations to top Justice Department officials, who decide which petitions to bring to the White House for approval. Presidents are not bound by the department's recommendations. Restitution is the amount that a judge orders defendants to pay their victims for injury or loss. In fraud cases, that number is usually based on the amount of money defendants are convicted of stealing. The number could be more or less than that. Much of the $1 billion Oyer cites comes from Trump's pardon of Trevor Milton, the founder of an electric-truck company who was convicted of fraud in 2023. Milton had been sentenced to four years in prison. A judge had not yet determined the restitution he should pay; federal prosecutors told the judge in March that they believed Milton owed more than $680 million to defrauded shareholders, according to federal court records. Trump's pardons also wiped out a $100 million fine against a cryptocurrency exchange called HDR Global Trading Limited (BitMEX). The company pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering laws to boost revenue. Trump also pardoned four company executives who pleaded guilty to financial crimes. The Justice Department is curbing prosecution of cryptocurrency cases at the same time Trump and his sons have launched a crypto venture. In one of her TikTok videos, Oyer said Trump's pardon last week of Michele Fiore — a Republican politician and activist in Nevada — cost Americans $70,000. Fiore was convicted last year of taking money meant to honor slain police officers and using it for plastic surgery, rent and her daughter's wedding. Fiore had not yet been sentenced when she received Trump's pardon, but Oyer is assuming that a judge would have determined she owed at least $70,000 in restitution since that's what she was convicted of stealing from Nevadans who donated to the fundraising campaign for the police officers. The White House defended the pardon in statements to news outlets last week and claimed, without evidence, that Fiore was targeted by prosecutors because of her outspoken conservative views. Oyer was one of several longtime, senior Justice Department employees fired by the Trump administration in early March. While she was not given a reason, Oyer claims she was removed after refusing to back the restoration of gun ownership rights to actor Mel Gibson, a Trump supporter convicted on misdemeanor domestic-violence charges in 2011. The Justice Department has denied her account. Gibson's gun rights have since been restored, according to federal records. Oyer, who has spoken to multiple news outlets and in front of Congress about her firing, has appealed her termination. The litigation is ongoing. Though it's not unusual for presidents to grant clemency to political allies, Trump has been widely criticized for the frequency in which he bestowed his pardon power on donors and other political supporters. In his first term, he issued 238 clemency grants, including dozens of people who sought to help him win a second term. President Joe Biden issued 80 pardons and 4,165 commutations — more than any other U.S. president — but many of those people had already been released from prison into home confinement. Typically, the Justice Department's pardon attorney would vet clemency applicants and make recommendations to the White House. While a president can largely decide whom he pardons, Justice Department guidelines state that a person should only be considered for such a reprieve after they have completed their sentence, according to Oyer. Because of that, she said, it's unusual for someone who receives a pardon to still owe so much in restitution. 'It's unprecedented for a president to grant pardons that have the effect of wiping out so much debt owed by people who have committed frauds,' Oyer said. 'They do not meet Justice Department standards for recommending a pardon.' But it's not unprecedented for a president to pardon someone who has not yet served their sentence. In his final weeks in the White House, Biden issued a controversial pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted on federal gun and tax charges and had not yet been sentenced.
