Democrats Probe Trump Pardons for Pay-to-Play Influence

Senate and House Democrats have started an investigation into whether pardons and commutations issued by President Trump stemmed from pay-to-play dynamics. Letters obtained by CBS News detail the probe.

Lawmakers are scrutinizing pardons granted to cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty to money laundering; nursing home operator Joseph Schwartz, convicted of tax crimes; and entrepreneur Trevor Milton, sentenced to four years in prison in 2023 after conviction for lying to investors.

On Thursday, California congressmen Dave Min and Raul Ruiz, along with Vermont senator Peter Welch, sent letters to more than a dozen recipients of executive clemency. The letters seek details on how they received favorable treatment from Trump or his advisers through intermediaries, financial contributions, or other influence.

Democrats are also looking at the effects on thousands of financial victims. The letters state that Trump's clemency acts deprive victims of compensation and justice by eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution and fines owed to crime victims.

Clemency has drawn attention during Trump's second term, with pardons or commutations for allies facing prosecution and those who hired people close to him. The letters argue Trump has rewarded allies in a way that strays from the Supreme Court's view of executive clemency as an act of grace for public welfare.

Lawmakers requested contracts showing payments to lawyers, lobbyists, social media influencers, and others who advocated for clemency to Trump. They also asked for communications between recipients or their representatives with federal officials, records of donations to Trump or affiliated groups, and other clemency-related documents.

"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 idea people can get around the justice system after conviction gets to the heart of what is wrong with America under this administration.

Democrats lack subpoena power as the minority in both chambers but hope to pursue oversight if they gain majorities in midterm elections. That would let them compel documents on clemency and other matters.

The highest-profile case involves Trump's pardon last year of Zhao, Binance founder. Federal disclosures show the effort led by lawyer and lobbyist Ches McDowell, a friend of Donald Trump Jr., and Teresa Goody Guillén, who represented Zach Witkoff, son of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

A letter to Zhao cited reports of Binance partnering with World Liberty Financial, founded by the Trump and Witkoff families. "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 letter said.

The White House denied impropriety. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said anyone spending money to lobby for pardons wastes their money, noting a robust pardon review process. Goody Guillén said there was no quid pro quo.

"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 Senate Judiciary Committee member that oversees Justice Department clemency.

Former pardon attorney Liz Oyer told CBS News the Trump administration appears to work around the Office of the Pardon Attorney rather than with it to vet applications. "This was a departure from over 100 years of practice," Oyer said, adding clemency ran out of the White House without agency input.

Letters demand responses by May 22.

Schwartz pleaded guilty to charges from a $38 million payroll tax fraud scheme at his nursing homes. He served three months of a three-year sentence outside New York City when Trump pardoned him. That followed payments to right-wing operatives, lawyers close to Trump, and Alice Marie Johnson, Trump's pardon czar, the New York Times reported.

Lawmakers also probe commutation for healthcare executive Lawrence Duran, convicted of Medicare fraud, which erased $87 million in restitution. They questioned Milton, Nikola founder.

In March 2025, Trump pardoned Milton, canceling about $680 million in shareholder restitution. It came after Milton and his wife donated at least $3 million to Trump's 2024 campaign and related groups. A White House official said the donations played no role.

Others include private equity executive David Gentile, convicted of a $1.6 billion Ponzi scheme with $15.5 million restitution erased by commutation. Senate Democrats called it a betrayal of over 17,000 Americans who lost more than $1 billion.

Letters went to tax cheat Paul Walczak, whose mother raised millions for Trump, and real estate developer Timothy Leiweke, pardoned after hiring Trump ally Trey Gowdy for contract bid rigging conviction. Senior Justice officials felt kneecapped by the president, a former Trump 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 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.