SouthernWorldwide.com – Congressional Democrats have initiated an investigation into whether President Trump’s pardons and commutations were influenced by “pay-to-play” schemes, as revealed by letters obtained by CBS News.
The investigation specifically scrutinizes pardons granted to prominent figures including cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao, who had pleaded guilty to money laundering; Joseph Schwartz, a nursing home operator convicted of tax offenses; and Trevor Milton, an entrepreneur sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding investors.
On Thursday, California Congressmen Dave Min and Raul Ruiz, alongside Vermont Senator Peter Welch, dispatched letters to over a dozen recipients of executive clemency. These letters aim to uncover any instances where favorable treatment from Mr. Trump or his advisors might have been secured through intermediaries, financial contributions, or other forms of influence.
The Democrats are also examining the broader implications of these pardons and commutations on victims of financial crimes. The correspondence highlights how Mr. Trump’s clemency actions have potentially “deprived victims of compensation and justice,” pointing to the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution owed to victims and in fines.
Executive clemency has faced increased scrutiny during Mr. Trump’s second term, particularly concerning pardons and commutations extended to allies facing prosecution, as well as individuals who engaged individuals close to him. The Democrats argue that the President’s actions appear to reward allies in a manner that deviates from the Supreme Court’s definition of executive clemency as an “act of grace” for the “public welfare.”
Lawmakers have requested documentation detailing any payments made by clemency recipients to lawyers, lobbyists, social media influencers, and other advocates who lobbied on their behalf to the President.
Additionally, they are seeking communications between recipients or their representatives and federal officials, records of any donations made to Mr. Trump or affiliated groups, and other relevant documents pertaining to clemency efforts.
“If they don’t respond, they run the risk of highlighting themselves — of being the subjects of future congressional investigations and creating more of a target on their backs for potential further criminal prosecutions,” Min told CBS News. He added that the notion of individuals being able to “get around the justice system” after conviction “gets to the heart of what is wrong with America right now under this administration.”
As Democrats currently hold minority status in both the House and the Senate, they lack subpoena power and are reliant on the voluntary cooperation of pardon recipients. However, this avenue for clemency is expected to become a significant oversight focus for Democrats should they regain majority control in either chamber of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, which would grant them the authority to compel documents related to clemency and other oversight matters.
One of the most high-profile clemency cases under investigation is Mr. Trump’s pardon of Zhao, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Federal disclosures indicate that the lobbying for this pardon was spearheaded by Ches McDowell, a lawyer and lobbyist connected to Donald Trump Jr., and Teresa Goody Guillén, an attorney who has represented Zach Witkoff, the son of Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
In a letter addressed to Zhao, Democrats referenced reports detailing Binance’s partnership with World Liberty Financial, a crypto company founded by the Trump and Witkoff families. The letter stated, “Public reporting also indicates that you and Binance played an important role in brokering a massive investment in the Trump family’s crypto business, surging the Trump Stablecoin to a $2.1 billion valuation.”
The White House has denied any wrongdoing in the Zhao pardon and others. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that anyone “spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money” and asserted that the administration possesses a “robust pardon review process.” Goody Guillén has also maintained that there was no “quid pro quo.”
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“President Trump’s abuse of the presidential pardon has let criminals walk free and deprived victims of hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution, with little to no explanation,” said Welch, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees clemency at the Department of Justice. While the DOJ traditionally handles pardons and commutations, its former pardon attorney, Liz Oyer, previously informed CBS News that the Trump administration “appears to be working around” the agency rather than collaborating with it “to vet and review applications for pardons.”
“This was a departure from over 100 years of practice,” Oyer commented, noting that clemency had been managed from the White House “without input from the Office of the Pardon Attorney.”
The letters sent to the clemency recipients requested responses by May 22.
Schwartz, who admitted guilt to charges related to a $38 million payroll tax fraud scheme involving his nursing homes, had served only three months of his three-year prison sentence when Mr. Trump pardoned him. This occurred after Schwartz made payments to right-wing operatives and lawyers associated with the president and Alice Marie Johnson, Mr. Trump’s “pardon czar,” according to a report by the New York Times.
The lawmakers are also investigating the clemency granted to former healthcare executive Lawrence Duran, who was convicted of Medicare fraud and received a commutation from Mr. Trump that waived $87 million in restitution. Additionally, inquiries were sent to Milton, the founder of the now-bankrupt automotive company Nikola.
In March 2025, Mr. Trump pardoned Milton, absolving him of approximately $680 million in restitution to shareholders. This action followed substantial donations made by Milton and his wife, totaling at least $3 million, to Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign and related political organizations.
A White House official stated earlier this year that Milton’s donations “played absolutely no role” in his pardon.
Other individuals facing congressional scrutiny include former private equity executive David Gentile, convicted of operating a $1.6 billion Ponzi scheme. His $15.5 million in restitution was eliminated when Mr. Trump commuted his sentence. Senate Democrats had expressed concerns about this commutation in December, arguing that it “represents a betrayal of more than 17,000 innocent Americans from all walks of the political spectrum that lost over $1 billion in life savings because of his crimes.”
Also receiving letters were Paul Walczak, a pardoned tax evader whose mother raised millions of dollars for Mr. Trump, and real estate developer Timothy Leiweke. Leiweke received a pardon after hiring Trey Gowdy, a lawyer and Trump ally, following a conviction for alleged contract bid rigging. Following this pardon, senior Justice Department officials “felt completely kneecapped by the president,” a former Trump administration official told The Free Press.
“The thing that rankles me even further is the deprivation of restitution, money that they were supposed to pay back to the victims of their frauds,” Min, a member of the House Oversight Committee, told CBS News.
“Now the victims get hit twice, because not only are the people that defrauded them not serving their time — not paying their debt to society — they’re literally not paying their debts to the people they defrauded,” the congressman added.
