The Cost of a Pardon

Hundreds of millions in penalties have been erased

Todd and Julie Chrisley became household names thanks to their USA Network reality show, Chrisley Knows Best. It all started when a former DC newswoman who briefly worked for the family noticed their loud, flashy personalities, over-the-top family drama, and telegenic kids — and saw TV potential. She pitched the idea to the network, and the show quickly became a hit, showcasing their wealthy lifestyle.

During the opening episode in 2014, Todd, a real-estate developer, brags about spending $300,000 a year on clothes — sorted by season — as he gives a tour of a giant closet inside one of the family’s Tennessee mansions. One of the homes is valued at $5.2 million, the other at $2.8 million, according to Zillow. The larger of the two, with a 13,279-square-foot floorplan, includes ten bathrooms, a chef's kitchen, a formal dining room, an indoor sports court, and a pool.

But behind the scenes, the money wasn’t what it seemed. In 2022, the couple was convicted of fraud and tax evasion after federal prosecutors said they used fake documents to secure $30 million in loans, hid income from the IRS to “evade collection of half a million dollars in delinquent taxes owed by Todd,” and failed to file tax returns or pay any taxes for the years 2013 through 2016. The court sentenced Julie to seven years in prison and Todd to twelve. "As this sentencing proves, when you lie, cheat, and steal, justice is blind to your fame, fortune, and position," said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, which investigated the case alongside the IRS.

The court also ordered the Chrisleys to pay more than $17 million in restitution to eight banks they defrauded, as well as an $1,800 special assessment fee to be deposited in the federal Crime Victims Fund.

But the election of Donald Trump would change all that.

Daughter Savannah Chrisley, a vocal Trump supporter who endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential candidacy, spoke about her parents at the Republican National Convention last summer. “My family was persecuted by rogue prosecutors and Fulton County [GA] due to our public profile... and conservative beliefs,” she said, noting that the prosecutor in the case had called her family “the Trumps of the South.”

“We need to expose the Democrats' corruption,” Savannah went on to say, and that Trump was “just the man for the job.”

Ten months later Trump was calling Savannah from the Oval Office to tell her, “Your parents are going to be free and clean.” The next day, he gave unconditional pardons to both Todd and Julie.

The pardons didn’t just cancel the couple’s remaining prison time — they also wiped out the money they still owed. The Chrisleys might even try to get a refund for what they’ve already paid. Restitution and fines that have already been transferred to the government or victims normally cannot be recovered after a presidential pardon. But their lawyer, Alex Little, said the Chrisleys might nonetheless go back to court to attempt to recover the less than $100,000 they paid.

It’s a dramatic example of how presidential pardons can upend the normal process of accountability — not just by freeing people from prison, but also by erasing their financial penalties entirely and leaving victims uncompensated.

The costs of Trump’s pardons

The Constitution gives the president the power to grant "reprieves and pardons" to people convicted of federal crimes. In practice, this covers various forms of clemency: a commutation reduces a prison sentence; remissions reduce fines or forfeitures; and a reprieve temporarily delays the start or continuation of a sentence. A full or unconditional pardon is the most sweeping form. It means the person who was convicted won’t have to serve time (or complete their sentence) — or pay money back to the people or institutions they wronged.

And once a pardon is issued, it’s final. In practical terms, that means victims — whether they’re small businesses, investors, or government agencies — will never get paid.

How much money in fines and restitution have Trump’s pardons wiped out? Former Department of Justice pardon attorney Liz Oyer has an estimate.

Oyer was fired by the Trump administration in March after refusing to write a memo restoring gun rights for actor and Trump supporter Mel Gibson. According to Oyer, a DOJ superior pushed for the memo because of Gibson’s “personal relationship” with the president.

Oyer now says that in the first five months of his presidency, Trump has canceled more than $1.3 billion in penalties owed to victims of white-collar crime.

Trevor Milton

Nearly half of Oyer’s dollar amount comes from one person: Trevor Milton, the former CEO of electric truck startup Nikola Motors. In 2022, a jury found him guilty of securities and wire fraud, and he was sentenced to four years in prison.

The jury agreed with prosecutors that Milton had made false claims about Nikola’s technology, misleading investors into believing the company’s trucks were farther along than they actually were. According to a DOJ press release, Milton claimed that the company had a “fully functioning” semi-truck prototype when in fact the truck didn’t even have gears, a motor, or a control system. Those and similar misleading claims inflated Nikola’s stock price, and investors lost hundreds of millions of dollars when the truth came out.

In March, federal prosecutors told the court they believed Milton owed about $661 million to Nikola shareholders and another $15 million to a wire fraud victim whose ranch he had partly paid for with Nikola stock.

But like the Chrisleys, Milton found that Trump’s election changed things. He had been represented in his criminal trial by the brother of Pam Bondi, the current attorney general in Trump’s Justice Department. And he and his wife donated more than $1.8 million to Trump’s presidential campaign in October 2024, a month before the presidential election.

President Trump gave him a complete pardon in March, wiping out what presumably would have been several hundred million dollars in restitution. A judge had not officially signed off on the exact amount before he was pardoned, but prosecutors were asking for roughly $676 million.

BitMEX

In another case, a full pardon went to the cryptocurrency exchange HDR Global Trading Limited, better known as BitMEX, as well as three of its co-founders and an employee. The company had pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money-laundering laws by failing to take required precautions and allowing users to trade anonymously. This helped it generate over $1 billion in profits. As part of its plea, BitMEX agreed to pay a $100 million fine to the federal government. But thanks to the pardon, which came just hours before the payment deadline, that fine will never be collected.

Michele Fiore

The president fully pardoned Michele Fiore, a Republican activist, judge, former Las Vegas councilwoman, and Trump loyalist. Last year, a federal jury found Fiore guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy charges related to a charity fraud scheme in which money was raised to build statues honoring two Las Vegas police officers killed in the line of duty.

“The evidence at trial demonstrated that Fiore promised donors that ‘100% of the contributions’ would be used towards the construction of memorials for the fallen officers,” a DOJ press release said.

“However, Fiore did not use any of the more than $70,000 in charitable donations she raised for the memorials. Instead, Fiore spent the money donated by the victims on a variety of personal and political expenses, including political fundraising bills, personal rent payments, and payments to family members.” Prosecutors said that some of the funds went to pay for plastic surgery and her daughter’s wedding.

Fiore hadn’t been sentenced yet when she was pardoned, but the probation office had recommended she pay $70,000 in restitution. Even her own defense attorney, Paola Armeni, said she expected US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey likely would have ordered Fiore to pay that much when she was sentenced. Now that’s no longer possible.

The Capitol riot

And then there are the January 6 defendants.

More than 1,500 people were charged for their roles in attacking the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election, and more than 1,200 were convicted. The Government Accountability Office estimates the cost of the attack at more than $2.7 billion, including damage to the Capitol building and grounds; costs incurred by the Capitol Police, the District of Columbia, and federal agencies; and expenses related to increased security and ongoing investigations. The rioters also caused severe physical harm to police officers, including cracked ribs, smashed spinal discs, traumatic brain injuries, and in one case the loss of an eye.

Those convicted had been ordered to pay a total of $3 million in restitution. It was not a large sum compared to the total damage done, but it was a form of accountability and a step toward compensating the public.

Now, not even that small amount will be repaid: Trump issued full pardons to nearly all of the rioters and commuted the sentences of 14 others which also wiped out the restitution they had been ordered to pay.

Victims uncompensated

The Chrisleys will bounce back. Todd and Julie are now out of jail and back to their life, talking to the press, running errands in front of cameras, and spending time on their daughter’s podcast. Todd joked that he’s sporting a “BOP glow” (referring to the Bureau of Prisons) because he worked out every day while he was incarcerated. The family even has a new source of income lined up: Todd said he’s looking forward to telling his story on the family’s next TV show, which will come out later this year.

But the money Todd and Julie Chrisley were ordered to pay in restitution will never be recouped. And neither will the hundreds of millions of other penalties that have been wiped out by Trump’s pardons.

So the investors who fell for lies will not get their money back, just like the people who thought they were donating to build a memorial but got duped into paying for a person’s rent and plastic surgery instead.

Restitution is supposed to help make things right for victims. But instead of convicted criminals facing the consequences for their actions, the victims of these crimes are now left holding the bag.