President Trump has pardoned former Rep. Stephen Buyer of Indiana, who was convicted of insider trading in 2023, citing the support of fellow Republicans. A House prosecutor in Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial, Buyer was found guilty of using confidential corporate information to collect more than $300,000 in profits. The trial judge said the evidence “screams guilty,” the Washington Post reports. His conviction was upheld on appeal, and the Supreme Court declined to intervene. Buyer, 67, has maintained he did nothing wrong. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
Trump framed the move as part of his pushback against what he calls a politicized Justice Department under Joe Biden. It’s his 13th pardon for a current or former member of Congress across his two terms. The proclamation, dated Thursday, names former House Speaker John Boehner and Sens. Roger Wicker and Lindsey Graham as endorsing Trump’s action, per the New York Times. Ethics watchdogs are scrutinizing Trump’s own trading activity, the Post points out, including big purchases of Dell and other tech stocks before major Pentagon contracts. Presidents, however, are exempt from key conflict-of-interest rules.
