Trump pardons allowed recipients to skirt more than $1.3B in restitution

President Trump’s pardons and clemencies allowed recipients to get out of paying more than $1.3 billion in restitution and fines, according to a review of court records by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee.

The Tuesday report evaluates the financial fallout from Trump’s widespread pardons, which were extended to all people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, as well as to other political donors and allies.

“Not only has President Trump issued an unprecedented number of pardons in his second term, he has used his clemency powers to take an estimated $1.3 billion away from victims and survivors of crime, allowing perpetrators to keep profiting from their crimes,” the report states.

Those convicted of crimes are often ordered to pay fines as part of their sentencing, channeled into funds to offer compensation to victims as well as to cover costs otherwise borne by taxpayers.

The report finds those convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol had paid just a fraction of their restitution, while the lion’s share of the $1.348 billion in outstanding fees comes from those pardoned for white collar crimes.

“At the time President Trump pardoned the January 6th insurrectionists, only 15% of the $3 million in restitution ordered to victims had been paid, with the remaining $2.6 million due suddenly liquidated by the President’s pardons,” the report states.

“Of course it’s not just violent, cop-beating extremists in President Trump’s private mob-and-militia who have been pardoned. With a far greater financial effect, President Trump’s pardon spree has also swept in big-time corporate fraudsters, millionaire tax evaders, and other white-collar criminals. Thanks to President Trump’s pardons, these convicted criminals now get to keep $1.3 billion in ill-gotten gains they stole from their victims and American taxpayers.”

The memo notes those with clemency petitions before the president have typically paid all outstanding debt in order to show they have “accepted responsibility for his or her criminal conduct and made restitution to its victims,” as detailed in the Justice Department manual.

Trump also has the power to offer conditional pardons that require recipients to pay all outstanding restitution.

Among those who no longer must pay restitution are Lewis Snoots, who was convicted of assaulting Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Officer Michael Fanone, holding him down while other rioters beat the officer. Snoots was ordered to pay nearly $97,000 in restitution to MPD and another $2,000 to the Architect of the Capitol.

Paul Walczak, a former nursing home executive who pleaded guilty to multiple tax crimes, was pardoned after his mother paid $1 million to attend a fundraising dinner for Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Walczak had been ordered to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution.

Walczak had been sentenced to 18 months in for stealing more than $7.4 million from his employees’ tax withholdings. The report argues that sidestepping payment of restitution makes him an “unrepentant millionaire wage thief.”

Trump also pardoned dark web site Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison on money laundering charges and others related to the sites’ use to sell narcotics. Ulbricht’s pardon means he no longer has to pay $184 million in restitution.

The $1.3 billion calculation also considers the pardon of Nikola founder Trevor Milton, whose restitution had not yet been determined by a judge but who prosecutors said should pay $676 million to defrauded shareholders of the electric truck company.

Beyond unpaid restitution, the Judiciary Democrats’ report notes the Justice Department is seeking the return of funds that were already paid by those who stormed the Capitol, while a lawsuit by those involved is also seeking financial compensation.

“Adding insult to injury, President Trump’s DOJ is now brazenly arguing in court that the federal government should strip away the $437,000 in restitution money that was actually paid to the victims and return it directly to the criminal insurrectionists, leaving victims and taxpayers to foot the bill themselves for the costs of all the extremists’ violence and destruction,” it states.

“Perhaps emboldened by DOJ’s stance, the primary seditious conspirators behind the January 6th insurrection now claim that the government violated their constitutional rights and have sued the government for $100 million in restitution.”