Trump pardons Stephen Buyer, GOP congressman convicted of insider trading
FILE: US Rep. Stephen Buyer, R-IN, talks to reporters 04 February just outside the Senate chamber in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, before going into the impeachment trial of US President Bill Clinton. (Photo by LUKE FRAZZA/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump has pardoned Stephen Buyer, the former congressman convicted of insider trading.
Buyer, a Republican from Indiana, spent two years in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information more than 10 years after he left office. Here’s the latest:
Why did Trump pardon Stephen Buyer?
What they're saying:
Trump said he issued Buyer a "full, complete, and unconditional pardon" on Thursday, citing Buyer’s "distinguished and highly productive" career as a judge advocate general in the Army and in the House.
Buyer, meanwhile, said the pardon "corrects a politically motivated prosecution" and that it was "horrific to be imprisoned for a crime that I did not commit." He still maintains his innocence.
On May 31, Trump shared two letters on his Truth Social platform, both of which requested a pardon for Buyer.
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One of the letters, signed by more than 40 former Republicans in Congress, said Buyer was "targeted by the deep state."
"Like you, Mr. President, Steve has been the victim of lawfare conducted by the Biden Administration," they wrote in the April 2025 letter.
The other letter was from five current House Republicans: Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Ken Calvert of California, Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, Jack Bergman of Michigan and Pete Sessions of Texas.
Dig deeper:
The pardon doesn't erase Buyer's criminal record, but it can be seen as an act of mercy or justice.
Who is Stephen Buyer?
The backstory:
Buyer, 67, was a House prosecutor at Democratic President Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial and in 2016 he served on Trump’s transition team focusing on veterans’ issues. He left office in 2011.
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He was convicted in connection with insider trading involving the $26.5 billion 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.
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.
The Source: This report includes information from The Associated Press and Fox News Digital.