Liz Oyer, a lawyer with the United States Department of Justice handling pardons for a long time, was fired by the Trump administration in March. Since then, Oyer has publicly criticised the administration, including its approach to pardons.
In an April 30 video on TikTok, Oyer took issue with many of Trump’s pardons, not only because they short-circuited the justice system but also because of their financial impact.
“President Trump has granted pardons that have wiped out over $1bn in debts owed by wealthy Americans who have committed fraud and broken the law,” claims Oyer, who said she was fired because she opposed a pardon to restore gun rights to actor Mel Gibson, a Trump supporter who was convicted on misdemeanour domestic violence charges in 2011.
US Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, shared her post on May 31 on Instagram, saying Trump is “selling pardons to criminals who dump money on him and ingratiate themselves to his ego. They not only get out of jail, but they get out of the money they owe to make restitution for their crimes. This is wrong.”
Oyer’s Substack includes a running list of Trump’s pardons, along with a dollar figure for each that she says the pardon erased. The dollar figures on her list include fines – a financial penalty for being convicted of a crime – and restitution, which is designed to compensate victims for their losses.
As of June 5, Oyer’s pardon tracker listed 24 people with federal convictions whom Trump pardoned, along with the dollar amounts to be forgiven.
On the surface, the maths holds: collectively, the 24 pardoned people and companies Oyer listed were on the hook for $1.34bn.
United Arab Emirates Dirham Exchange Rate
