Trump white-collar criminal pardons cost public $1bn, says ex-DoJ official

<p>Former pardon attorney Liz Oyer said president erased more than ‘$1bn in debts owed by wealthy Americans’</p><p>The justice department’s pardon attorney, who was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/doj-official-fired-mel-gibson-gun">recently fired</a>, has claimed on social media that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump">Donald Trump</a>’s recent wave of pardoning white-collar criminals has erased more than “$1bn in debts owed by wealthy Americans” to the public purse.</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lawyer.oyer/video/7499153750968290603">TikTok video</a>, Liz Oyer, who has said that she was terminated in March after <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Oyer%2C+Gibson&amp;as_sitesearch=www.theguardian.com">refusing</a> 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.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/02/trump-pardons-cost-liz-oyer">Continue reading...</a>