Trump pardons former Republican Rep. Stephen Buyer who was convicted of insider trading
President Donald Trump announced he has issued a pardon to former Republican Rep. Stephen Buyer of Indiana, who was convicted of insider trading after leaving office.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Buyer with insider trading in 2021, accusing him of trading stocks using private information about the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint from clients of his consulting firm that he established after he left Congress in 2011.
Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison in September 2023, six months after a Manhattan federal jury convicted him. He was released from prison last year after serving out his sentence.
In the proclamation declaring the pardon, which is dated June 4, Trump said Buyer’s time in Congress and as a judge advocate general (JAG) in the U.S. Army was "distinguished and highly productive," and does not mention any wrongdoings.
The proclamation said several Republican leaders, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, backed the pardon.
Trump has previously decried the practice of insider trading on prediction markets amid ongoing global conflicts like the Iran war and has stated he's "not happy with any of that stuff."
He’s repeatedly expressed public support for banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, stating he would "absolutely" sign such a bill into law.
Buyer's pardon came days after Trump posted on social media letters from several Republicans, including 42 retired Congress members, urging the president to give Buyer clemency.
The letters also cited Buyer's 18-years in Congress and mentioned his involvement as a House prosecutor during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
-ABC News' Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
