President Donald Trump granted a full pardon Friday to former Rep. Stephen Buyer, a Republican from Indiana convicted in 2023 of insider trading, clearing a man who served as a House prosecutor at Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial and who his supporters say was targeted by political adversaries.
The White House released the pardon late Friday. It was dated Thursday, June 4.
“A full, complete, and unconditional pardon,” the document read. Trump cited Buyer’s record as a judge advocate general in the Army and his time in the House as “distinguished and highly productive.”
Buyer, 67, was sentenced to 22 months in prison for making illegal stock trades while working as a consultant and lobbyist after leaving Congress in 2011. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000 in illicit gains and pay a $10,000 fine. He served his time and was released in 2025.
The Supreme Court rejected his appeal without comment in May.
Buyer said the pardon “corrects a politically motivated prosecution” and maintained his innocence. “It was horrific to be imprisoned for a crime that I did not commit.”
The trades at the center of the case involved two deals: the $26.5 billion T-Mobile and Sprint merger announced in April 2018, and a separate acquisition involving management consulting firm Navigant. Prosecutors argued Buyer used inside knowledge gained through his consulting work to trade ahead of each announcement.
More than 40 former House Republicans signed a letter urging Trump to act. “Like you, Mr. President, Steve has been the victim of lawfare conducted by the Biden Administration,” they wrote, calling him a man “targeted by the deep state” because of his involvement in Clinton’s impeachment.
A second letter, signed by five sitting House Republicans including House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma, argued the conviction was unjust.
Trump previewed the decision on May 31, sharing both letters on Truth Social.
Buyer served on Trump’s transition team in 2016, focused on veterans’ affairs. He is a Gulf War veteran and former military attorney.
The Constitution grants presidents broad pardon authority for federal crimes. A pardon does not erase a criminal record but eliminates remaining legal penalties.
