Corruption tracker · 26 entries
Clemency for donors, allies, and business partners, and prosecutions that went away.
26 entries, most significant first.
~1,500 people
A single proclamation pardoned roughly 1,500 people charged in the Capitol attack and commuted the sentences of 14 Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. About 608 had been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police; 172 had pleaded guilty to assault.
Their response: Trump called them “hostages” and said the pardons ended “a grave national injustice.”
Sources: NPR · Just Security (DOJ figures)
$1.8M in donations; $660M+ restitution sought
The founder of electric-truck maker Nikola was convicted of defrauding investors and sentenced to four years. He and his wife gave about $1.8M to Trump's 2024 effort; the pardon came before a judge ruled on the $660M+ in restitution prosecutors sought.
Their response: Trump: “the thing that he did wrong was he was one of the first people that supported… Donald Trump.”
Sources: CNBC · Rolling Stone · Justice Department clemency list
$4.4M restitution erased
A nursing-home executive convicted of tax crimes was pardoned, sparing him 18 months in prison and $4.4M in restitution. The New York Times reported his mother had attended a $1M-per-person fundraising dinner with Trump less than three weeks earlier.
Their response: No White House explanation was found.
Sources: Rolling Stone (on the NYT report) · Justice Department clemency list
Binance paid $4.3B in 2023 penalties
Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to stop money laundering on Binance, which paid $4.3B in penalties. Trump pardoned him on Oct. 21, 2025. Binance is the main home of the Trump family's USD1 stablecoin and was the destination of the $2B deal settled in it.
Their response: Leavitt: Zhao was prosecuted in the Biden administration's “war on cryptocurrency.” Trump: “I don't know who he is.” World Liberty denies any exchange of favors. The pardon is documented; a quid pro quo is alleged, not proven.
Sources: CNBC · FactCheck.org · Justice Department clemency list
$3.5M to MAGA Inc.
Julio Herrera Velutini, charged in a Puerto Rico bribery case, was pardoned along with the former governor he was accused of bribing. His daughter had given $3.5M to Trump's super PAC; a watchdog group filed a complaint alleging the money was really his.
Their response: A White House official denied donations played any role.
Sources: Campaign Legal Center (watchdog) · Justice Department clemency list
$15.5M forfeiture
The founder of GPB Capital was convicted of defrauding more than 10,000 investors. Trump commuted his sentence less than two weeks after he reported to prison.
Their response: Leavitt called the prosecution a “weaponization of justice.”
Sources: NBC News · Justice Department clemency list
~$22M restitution erased
The couple were serving 12 and 7 years for bank fraud and tax evasion and owed about $22M in restitution. Their daughter campaigned for Trump and spoke at the 2024 Republican convention.
Their response: Trump said they had received “pretty harsh treatment.”
Sources: Axios · Justice Department clemency list
$374K restitution
The former Republican congressman was serving more than seven years for wire fraud and identity theft. Trump commuted the sentence, which also lifted about $374,000 in restitution to his victims.
Their response: Trump called him “somewhat of a rogue” but said others are not “forced to serve seven years.”
Sources: NPR · Justice Department clemency list
45-year sentence erased
The ex-president of Honduras was serving 45 years for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. He was pardoned and freed after lobbying by Trump allies including Roger Stone.
Their response: Trump said he had been “treated very harshly and unfairly.”
Sources: NPR · Congressional Research Service
77 people
A proclamation pardoned 77 people for efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, and Sidney Powell. It covers only federal crimes; state cases continue.
Their response: The proclamation says it “ends a grave national injustice.”
Sources: CNN
~$128M restitution
Devon Archer (pardoned) and Jason Galanis (sentence commuted), former business associates of Hunter Biden convicted in a tribal-bond fraud, both testified for House Republicans' Biden inquiry. Together they owed about $128M in restitution.
Sources: Justice Department clemency list
$21.7M restitution; $200K+ donated
Kidan, convicted in the SunCruz casino fraud, was pardoned of a conviction carrying $21.7M in restitution. He had given more than $200,000 to Trump-affiliated committees.
Their response: The White House gave only a general statement that every request is vetted.
Sources: NOTUS · Justice Department clemency list
$1.65B (partisan estimate)
House Judiciary Committee Democrats tallied the money that pardoned and commuted defendants no longer owe victims or the government. The figure is a partisan estimate and includes sums that were sought but never ordered or might never have been collected.
Their response: The White House disputed the earlier version of the figure.
Sources: House Judiciary Democrats staff report, Aug 2026 (partisan) · CNN (on the June 2025 version)
The Justice Department's pardon attorney, Elizabeth Oyer, was fired on March 7, 2025. She says the notice came hours after she declined to recommend restoring actor Mel Gibson's gun rights, and she sued over the firing in September 2026; the case is pending. Her successor, Ed Martin, posted “No MAGA left behind” after one pardon. Trump announced in August 2026 that Martin was leaving the administration.
Their response: The removal notice said she was terminated under “Article II of the Constitution and the laws of the United States.”
Sources: Just Security litigation tracker (Oyer v. Blanche) · NBC News (May 31, 2025) · CBS News (Aug. 21, 2026)
7 prosecutors resigned
The Justice Department ordered corruption charges against New York's mayor dismissed. The acting U.S. attorney and six other prosecutors resigned; she wrote that Adams's lawyers had urged “what amounted to a quid pro quo” for his help on immigration enforcement. The judge called the department's rationale “unprecedented and breathtaking.”
Their response: The Justice Department official who ordered the dismissal and Adams both deny any quid pro quo. The dismissal and resignations are documented.
Sources: ABC News · Prosecutor's resignation letter
$50,000 in cash (reported)
MSNBC and the New York Times reported that the FBI recorded Homan, now the border czar, accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover agents in September 2024, and that the investigation was closed in 2025. No charges were filed.
Their response: Leavitt: Homan “never took the $50,000.” Homan denies wrongdoing.
$3.1B in penalties avoided (watchdog estimate)
The watchdog group Public Citizen counts 176 federal enforcement actions against corporations that were dropped or frozen; in its January 2026 report, at least 18 companies avoided $3.1B in penalties.
Sources: Public Citizen report (advocacy group) · Public Citizen tracker
On Jan. 29, 2025 the Justice Department abandoned its appeal seeking to revive charges against Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, Trump’s co-defendants in the classified documents case, and moved to dismiss with prejudice the indictment of former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, accused of misleading the FBI about illegal campaign contributions, in a filing under the name of Ed Martin, then Trump’s interim U.S. attorney in Washington. The appeals court formally dismissed the documents case on Feb. 11, 2025. Nauta now earns $175,000 a year as director of Oval Office operations.
Their response: Trump wrote of Fortenberry: “Jeff and his family were forced to suffer greatly due to the illegal Weaponization of our Justice System by the Radical Left Democrats.” Facts that cut the other way: Judge Aileen Cannon had already dismissed the documents charges in July 2024, so the department dropped an appeal, not a live indictment; Nauta and De Oliveira had pleaded not guilty; and Fortenberry’s first conviction was overturned in 2023 because it was tried in the wrong place. CNN reported Trump did not pardon the two aides because a pardon would “connote guilt.”
Sources: U.S. motion to dismiss indictment with prejudice, U.S. v. Fortenberry (Jan. 29, 2025) · CNN (Jan. 29, 2025) · CBS News (Feb. 11, 2025) · NOTUS (July 1, 2026)
$10B U.S. investment offered (not a payment to Trump)
Gautam Adani was indicted in Brooklyn in November 2024, accused of a scheme to pay $250 million in bribes to Indian officials, which he denies. He then hired a legal team led by Robert Giuffra Jr., one of Trump’s personal lawyers, and his lawyers conveyed an offer to invest $10 billion in the United States “as part of any resolution of” the case, court filings cited by two senators show. On May 18, 2026 the Justice Department moved to dismiss in a filing signed by a senior political appointee and the U.S. attorney but not by the line prosecutors; days earlier the SEC had settled its parallel fraud case for $18 million. A federal judge agreed to the dismissal in August, calling the process “highly unusual” and its “irregularities” “concerning” while finding the investment offer played no role in the decision. In early September he let some counts against some of Adani’s co-defendants stand, saying the department had “not provided sufficient factual information to support the stated reasons” for dropping them. The Guardian also reported that Donald Trump Jr. met Adani in November 2025.
Their response: The Justice Department’s filing said it had “reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants.” A spokesperson for Trump Jr. said his conversation with Adani “had zero to do with DoJ’s actions in this case.” A spokesperson for Boris Epshteyn denied he was involved in Adani’s “arguments, advocacy or efforts.”
Sources: NBC News (May 18, 2026) · The Guardian (May 14, 2026) · Sen. Elizabeth Warren, press release (Sept. 2026) · The Guardian (Sept. 24, 2026) · NBC News (Sept. 9, 2026)
$14B merger (private deal, not public money)
The Justice Department sued in January 2025 to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s purchase of Juniper Networks, then settled days before trial in June. A federal judge’s August 2026 opinion, based on discovery by a group of states that intervened, recounts that HPE’s outside advisers William Levi and Mike Davis met Justice Department officials repeatedly, including at the Metropolitan Club in Washington; that Antitrust Division lawyers rejected HPE’s terms; and that HPE then “approached the DOJ Chief of Staff and the Associate Attorney General, who soon agreed to settle.” The opinion also cites press reporting that HPE hired lobbyists close to the White House, including Arthur Schwartz. The two deputies who objected, Roger Alford and William Rinner, were fired in July 2025; Alford testified he was told the firings were “punishment for objecting to the settlement” and has said “cases are being resolved based on political connections, not the legal merits.” Judge P. Casey Pitts still approved the settlement, citing the risks the government would have faced at trial given the companies’ relatively low market shares; antitrust chief Gail Slater was forced out in February 2026.
Their response: A Justice Department official said the two deputies were fired for “insubordination.” People familiar with the matter told the Guardian that CIA director John Ratcliffe said blocking the merger would pose national security risks, and that Attorney General Pam Bondi felt Slater had misled her on that point. The judge wrote that the states “have not shown that entry of the amended proposed final judgment would not be in the public interest.”
Sources: U.S. District Court (N.D. Cal.), order granting entry of final judgment, U.S. v. HPE (Aug. 12, 2026) · CNN (July 29, 2025) · The Guardian (Feb. 12, 2026) · Public Citizen report (advocacy group) (Jan. 15, 2026)
$280M settlement fund for states, paid by Live Nation
Live Nation, sued in 2024 for monopolizing concerts and ticketing, put Trump envoy Richard Grenell on its board in May 2025. Antitrust chief Gail Slater was forced out on Feb. 12, 2026, weeks before trial; one week into the trial her acting successor, Omeed Assefi, met Live Nation’s chief executive face to face and agreed a settlement that left Ticketmaster intact, with a $280 million fund for states, a 15% cap on some fees and divestiture of 13 amphitheater booking deals. Judge Arun Subramanian, told only days later, said: “It shows absolute disrespect for the court, the jury and this entire process. It’s absolutely unacceptable.” More than 30 states refused the deal, and on April 15, 2026 a jury found Live Nation had illegally monopolized ticketing. That the settlement resulted from political influence is an inference, not an established fact.
Their response: Assefi after the verdict: “DOJ and some states settled their case and got instant relief. The remaining states received a liability finding and will now move on to the next phase of a remedies trial. Everyone but Live Nation wins with this scenario.” Live Nation said the settlement was reached “without any admission of wrongdoing” and that “the jury’s verdict is not the last word on this matter.” Its board chair said Grenell’s “background will bring a valuable perspective”.
Sources: NBC News (Mar. 9, 2026) · The Guardian (Mar. 9, 2026) · NBC News (Apr. 15, 2026) · The Hill (May 21, 2025) · The Guardian (Feb. 12, 2026)
$47M in payments prosecutors said were concealed
Restaurant chain Fat Brands and its chairman Andy Wiederhorn were indicted in 2024 over an alleged scheme to conceal $47 million paid to him. In March 2025, after activist Laura Loomer and others called for it, the White House personnel office, not the Justice Department, fired the lead career prosecutor, Adam Schleifer, by email. On July 29, 2025 the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles moved to dismiss all charges, including a separate gun charge against Wiederhorn. Wiederhorn gave almost $19,000 to Trump and Republican causes in the 2024 cycle, and Public Citizen says Fat Brands gave $100,000 to the inaugural fund; a link between the donations and the dismissal is not established.
Their response: Wiederhorn said he was “grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for taking a fresh look at this case”. His lawyer Douglas Fuchs called it “a case with no victims, no losses and no crimes.” All defendants had pleaded not guilty. NBC News did not report a stated reason from the department.
Sources: NBC News (July 30, 2025) · Public Citizen report (advocacy group) (Jan. 15, 2026)
Justice Department clemency records and NBC News reporting show pardons for former Tennessee state senator Brian Kelsey (March 11, 2025), former Las Vegas city councilmember Michele Fiore (April 23), former Virginia sheriff Scott Jenkins (May 27), former Tennessee House speaker Glen Casada and his chief of staff Cade Cothren (Nov. 7), and Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar, who had not yet been tried on bribery charges (Dec. 2), plus a commutation for former congressman George Santos. After the Jenkins pardon, Trump’s pardon attorney Ed Martin posted: “No MAGA left behind.” When Cuellar then ran for re-election as a Democrat, Trump complained of “Such a lack of LOYALTY” and wrote: “next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”
Their response: White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers: “All pardon and commutation decisions are solely made by President Trump, who is always willing to give well-deserving Americans a second chance, especially those who have been unfairly targeted by a corrupt justice system.” On Casada, a White House official said: “The Biden Department of Justice significantly over-prosecuted these individuals for a minor issue involving constituent mailers”; NBC noted that inquiry began, and the raids took place, during Trump’s first term.
Sources: Justice Department, Office of the Pardon Attorney, clemency grants 2025 to present · NBC News (May 31, 2025) · NBC News (Nov. 7, 2025) · NBC News (Dec. 7, 2025) · The Guardian (Dec. 3, 2025)
Trump administration officials earlier in 2026 ended a federal criminal investigation into possible Clean Water Act crimes by Southern Coal and affiliated mining companies owned by Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Trump ally, ProPublica reported on June 8, 2026. Prosecutors from the EPA, the Justice Department’s environmental crimes section and the U.S. attorney’s office in western Virginia believed they had a strong case and were fighting the companies over subpoenas when the deputy attorney general’s office, then led by Todd Blanche, told them to stop, according to people familiar with the matter. The department confirmed the decision and said the matter should be handled as a civil case.
Their response: Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Covington: “There is no case to be made here for a criminal investigation. Any career prosecutor who would paint a criminal case as strong is simply a deep state prosecutor continuing to push the priorities of the Biden administration.” The companies’ lawyer, Steven Ruby: “There’s never been any intentional wrongdoing by the companies.”
Sources: ProPublica (June 8, 2026)
$2.7M in reported lobbying fees; $49.9M paid to the Treasury
Roger Ver, an early bitcoin investor indicted in April 2024 on tax charges, hired Roger Stone, whom Trump pardoned in 2020 and whose firm registered in March 2025 to lobby on the “US government prosecution of Roger Ver” and reported $600,000 in fees for that quarter. In September 2025 Ballard Partners, led by Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard, registered on Ver’s behalf through his lawyer’s firm and went on to report $2.1 million in fees through mid-2026. On Oct. 14, 2025 the Justice Department moved to dismiss the indictment under a deferred prosecution agreement in which Ver agreed to pay $49.9 million and admitted his returns had cost the government $16.9 million. The payment went to the Treasury and exceeded the admitted loss; whether the lobbying changed the outcome is not established.
Their response: Ver had publicly appealed to Trump in January 2025, calling his prosecution “lawfare” (Cointelegraph). We found no comment from the Justice Department, Stone or Ballard.
Sources: Senate lobbying disclosures, client Roger Ver (LDA database query) · Drake Ventures (Roger Stone) registration for Roger Ver (Mar. 10, 2025) · Cointelegraph (Oct. 14, 2025)
$15M in penalties his company had agreed to pay
On Dec. 2, 2025 Trump gave a “full and unconditional pardon” to Tim Leiweke, co-founder of the venue company Oak View Group, whom a federal grand jury had indicted in July 2025 for allegedly rigging the bidding for an arena at a public university in Austin, Texas. Leiweke had pleaded not guilty and faced up to 10 years in prison. CNN reported that he was represented by former Republican congressman Trey Gowdy, who had lobbied the Justice Department to drop the case or grant clemency. Oak View Group had earlier agreed to pay $15 million in penalties over the same allegations.
Their response: Leiweke: “The President has given us a new lease on life with which we will be grateful and good stewards.” His lawyer David Gerger said the pardon “is the right result.” CNN’s report carried no White House explanation.
Sources: CNN (Dec. 3, 2025) · Justice Department, Office of the Pardon Attorney, clemency grants 2025 to present