{"id":4315,"date":"2026-06-07T03:30:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T03:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/06\/07\/trump-pardons-former-republican-congressman-convicted-of-insider-trading\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T03:30:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T03:30:50","slug":"trump-pardons-former-republican-congressman-convicted-of-insider-trading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4315","title":{"rendered":"Trump pardons former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1ma2nzf\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"cf39898b-59cd-469d-998c-269d51c61370\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Man in black suit speaking with someone on his right.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/eeee189ea48f010ce1cd54edbd30fd060cb40485\/229_0_2917_2333\/master\/2917.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"371.90435378813845\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Stephen Buyer arrives for his insider trading trial in New York City on 8 March 2023.<\/span> Photograph: Brendan McDermid\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"cf39898b-59cd-469d-998c-269d51c61370\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Stephen Buyer arrives for his insider trading trial in New York City on 8 March 2023.<\/span> Photograph: Brendan McDermid\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1jwoxwb\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Trump pardons former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Donald Trump pardoned Stephen Buyer of Indiana, who served nearly two years in prison after conviction<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-pzh79o\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">As his administration promotes what it calls a crackdown on fraud in states run by Democrats, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a> once again used the pardon power to excuse financial crimes committed by a Republican, granting a pardon this week to Stephen Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana who served nearly two years in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information after he left office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for trades made while working as a consultant and lobbyist. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000, representing the amount of the illegal gains, and pay a $10,000 fine. He was released in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The supreme court in May rejected Buyer\u2019s appeal without comment or noted dissent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In granting \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/06\/granting-pardon-to-stephen-e-buyer\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">a full, complete, and unconditional pardon<\/a>\u201d, Trump cited Buyer\u2019s career as a judge advocate general in the US army and said he represented Indiana in the House as a \u201cdistinguished and highly productive\u201d congressman. The pardon was dated Thursday and released by the White House late Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Buyer said the pardon \u201ccorrects a politically motivated prosecution\u201d and that it was \u201chorrific to be imprisoned for a crime that I did not commit\u201d. He maintains that he is innocent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Last month, Trump posted a pair of letters requesting a presidential pardon for Buyer, a lawyer and Gulf war veteran who left office in 2011. He was a House prosecutor for Bill Clinton\u2019s 1998 impeachment trial, and in 2016 he served on Trump\u2019s transition team focusing on veterans\u2019 issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A letter signed by more than 40 former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/republicans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Republicans<\/a> in Congress said Buyer was \u201ctargeted by the deep state\u201d because of his involvement in Clinton\u2019s trial. The list of current and former Republican lawmakers who supported Buyer was included in the pardon posted on the White House website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cLike you, Mr President, Steve has been the victim of lawfare conducted by the Biden Administration,\u201d they wrote in the April 2025 letter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A second letter, from five current House Republicans, said pardoning Buyer would bring justice to his case. The June 2025 letter was signed by Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Ken Calvert of California, Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, Jack Bergman of Michigan and Pete Sessions of Texas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Buyer, 67, was convicted in connection with insider trading involving the $26.5bn merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, announced in April 2018, and illegal trades in the management consulting company Navigant when his client Guidehouse was set to acquire it in a deal publicly disclosed weeks later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The US constitution gives a president broad power to grant pardons for federal crimes. The pardons do not erase a recipient\u2019s criminal record but can be seen as an act of mercy or justice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1xavc9x\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-crime\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US crime<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/trump-administration\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/republicans\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Republicans<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Trump%20pardons%20former%20Republican%20congressman%20convicted%20of%20insider%20trading&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/06\/trump-pardons-stephen-buyer-insider-trading?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjun%2F06%2Ftrump-pardons-stephen-buyer-insider-trading&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jun\/06\/trump-pardons-stephen-buyer-insider-trading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-babllm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stephen Buyer arrives for his insider trading trial in New York City on 8 March 2023. Photograph: Brendan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}