Trump issued pardon to former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump issued amnesty with Stephen BuyerA former Republican congressman from Indiana spent nearly two years in prison for the crime. illegal stock trading According to inside information received after he left office.
He was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for his dealings while working as a buyer, consultant and lobbyist. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000, representing the amount of illegal gains, and pay a $10,000 fine. He was released in 2025.
In granting a “full, complete and unconditional pardon,” Trump noted that Buyer’s career as the attorney general for the Army and the House of Representatives was “distinguished and extremely productive.” The pardon, dated Thursday, was announced by the White House late Friday.
The receiver said the pardon “corrects a politically motivated investigation” and that “being imprisoned for a crime I didn’t commit is terrible.” He maintains his innocence.
On May 31, Trump used the Truth Social media platform to share a pair of letters requesting a presidential pardon for Buyer, an attorney and Gulf War veteran who left office in 2011. He was the House prosecutor in Democratic President Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial and served on Trump’s transition team in 2016, which focused on veterans’ issues.
A letter signed by more than 40 former Republicans in Congress said Buyer was “targeted by the deep state” for his involvement in the Clinton case.
“Mr. President, Steve, like you, was a victim of law enforcement by the Biden Administration,” they wrote in the April 2025 letter.
A second letter from the five current House Republicans said pardoning Receiver would bring justice to his case. The letter, dated June 2025, was signed by Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Ken Calvert of California, Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, Jack Bergman of Michigan and Pete Sessions of Texas.
The 67-year-old buyer was convicted in connection with insider trading involving the $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint announced in April 2018 and illicit trading at management consulting firm Navigant, whose client Guidehouse was preparing to acquire that company in a deal that would be made public weeks later.
The Constitution gives the president broad authority to grant pardons for federal crimes. Pardons do not erase the recipient’s criminal record, but can be viewed as an act of mercy or justice.
