Trump Pardon Recipients Owed $1.3 Billion, Democrats Say

President Donald Trump’s pardons of Capitol rioters and white-collar fraudsters could stop the payment of up to $1.3 billion in penalties to the government and victims, according to House Judiciary Committee Democrats.

A committee Democratic staff memo released Tuesday attempts to quantify the total fines and restitution ordered or requested to be paid by those granted clemency by the president. It comes as Trump has pardoned or granted shorter sentences for more than 1,600 people, including all Jan. 6 rioters and dozens convicted of fraud offenses or misconduct outside of abortion clinics.

The total includes Ross Ulbricht, founder of the dark web marketplace Silk Road, who was ordered to forfeit nearly $184 million, and a combined $20 million from the two founders of a cryptocurrency exchange who pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Trump also pardoned reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted of fraud and tax evasion and were ordered to forfeit together more than $21 million.

The report also found approximately $3 million was ordered in penalties from participants in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, and only 15% of that had been paid at the time of Trump’s pardons.

Trump broadly pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol riot participants and granted commutations, or shortened sentences, to several people tied to the far-right groups the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys. The president said in an interview with Newsmax in March that there’s “talk about” creating a compensation fund for Jan. 6 rioters.

Liz Oyer, the former pardon attorney who was fired by the Trump administration earlier this year, said in an interview that pardons are “very rarely” recommended for people who owe a substantial amount of restitution. She said she couldn’t think of a case from her tenure, during the Biden administration, when someone who had paid no or little restitution was granted clemency.

“Victims have reason to believe that they will recover at least some of the money they’re owed. To have the president come in and take it all away with a pardon is, I’m sure, very traumatizing and upsetting to victims,” Oyer said.

The committee staff calculated the total using publicly available documents in court and the Office of the Pardon Attorney website to assess the amount since-pardoned criminal defendants were ordered to pay, or for those not yet sentenced, the amount the government requested they pay, according to the report.

Some of the total may have already been paid at the time of the pardons, but the Justice Department didn’t provide that information to the committee Democrats, the report says. Financial penalties are typically paid after people have completed their prison sentences, Oyer said.

The department’s manual states whether a person “accepted responsibility for his or her criminal conduct and made restitution to its victims” are “important considerations” in deciding whether to grant clemency.

The loss in payments could also hurt funding for Victims of Crime Act grants, which are financed by federal criminal defendants’ penalties, according to the report. These grants aim to provide financial assistance to crime victims for funerals, medical bills, counseling, and other services.

The report follows recent turnover at the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, which reviews requests for clemency and makes recommendations.

Oyer testified publicly that she was fired for refusing a request by a political appointee to recommend that actor Mel Gibson have his firearms rights restored after a domestic violence conviction. Oyer told ABC News earlier this month she estimated that clemency recipients owed more than $1 billion in restitution.

The office is now led by Ed Martin, a former “Stop the Steal” advocate who previously served as the interim top prosecutor in Washington, before his nomination to keep the post full-time was derailed in the Senate.