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Trump issues pardon to former Republican congressman Stephen Buyer after insider trading conviction
President Donald Trump has issued a full pardon to former Republican congressman Stephen Buyer, who served nearly two years in prison after being convicted of insider trading tied to post-congressional consulting work.
Buyer was sentenced in 2023 to 22 months in prison for illegal stock trades made while working as a consultant and lobbyist. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000 in ill-gotten gains and pay a $10,000 fine. He was released from custody in 2025 after his conviction was upheld, with the Supreme Court declining to take up his appeal earlier this year.
In issuing the pardon, Trump described Buyer’s service as a judge advocate general in the U.S. Army and his time in Congress as “distinguished and highly productive.” The pardon, dated Thursday and released by the White House on Friday, grants Buyer “a full, complete, and unconditional pardon.”
Buyer has maintained his innocence, calling his prosecution “politically motivated” and saying it was “horrific” to serve time for a crime he claims he did not commit.
Buyer, 67, left Congress in 2011 and later worked as a lawyer and Gulf War veteran. He previously served as a House prosecutor during the 1998 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton and worked on Trump’s 2016 transition team focusing on veterans’ issues.
The case centered on trades linked to major corporate transactions, including the $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint announced in 2018, as well as activity involving the consulting firm Navigant, ahead of its acquisition by Guidehouse.
Supporters of Buyer had urged clemency in letters sent to the White House, including one signed by more than 40 former Republican members of Congress who argued he was unfairly targeted due to his political background. Another letter from current House Republicans also pressed for a pardon, saying it would correct an injustice.
A presidential pardon does not erase a conviction but removes penalties tied to it and serves as formal forgiveness for the offense.
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