# List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump

Donald Trump has granted executive clemency, in the form of full pardons and commutations of sentence, to more than 1,500 individuals across two presidential terms, including 143 pardons and 93 commutations between 2017 and 2021 and a mass clemency action covering more than 1,500 January 6 Capitol riot defendants on the first day of his second term.<sup>[1](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-03-18/pdf/CREC-2026-03-18.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://apnews.com/article/e6144415d4bb0aa22ee289f98830c32a)</sup> A pardon forgives past federal crimes and restores civil rights; a commutation lessens a sentence without erasing the conviction.<sup>[4](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/02/07/biden-granted-more-acts-of-clemency-than-any-prior-president/)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First term (2017–2021) | 143 pardons and 93 sentence commutations, about 2 percent of clemency applications received<sup>[1](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-03-18/pdf/CREC-2026-03-18.pdf)</sup> |
| Largest first-term tranche | Signed January 13 and January 19, 2021 and announced January 20, 2021<sup>[5](https://pardons.hackingbutlegal.com/)</sup> |
| January 6 clemency | January 20, 2025 proclamation commuted named sentences including Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, pardoned all other convicted individuals, and directed dismissal of pending indictments; it covered all 1,500-plus people charged<sup>[2](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://apnews.com/article/e6144415d4bb0aa22ee289f98830c32a)</sup> |
| Second-term scale | Nearly 2,000 pardons and commutations issued, compared with 236 in the first term<sup>[6](https://theweek.com/law/trump-presidential-pardon-stop)</sup> |
| Financial effect | House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff estimated $1,348,607,386 in fines, forfeitures, and relief erased through clemency grants<sup>[7](https://www.axios.com/2025/06/17/trump-pardons-cost-democrats-report)</sup> |
| Later offending | At least 97 of the more than 1,500 pardoned January 6 defendants were later arrested for, charged with, or convicted of unrelated crimes, per a Lawfare review<sup>[8](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-jan-6-pardon-crime-spree-revealed-as-even-worse-than-known/)</sup> |

## First term (2017–2021)

Trump's first-term grants were comparatively few. He issued only one pardon during his first year in office, and across the full term granted 143 pardons and 93 commutations, about 2 percent of the applications his administration received.<sup>[9](https://elpais.com/internacional/2026-03-22/el-precio-del-perdon-la-floreciente-industria-de-los-indultos-bate-records-en-el-washington-de-trump.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[1](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-03-18/pdf/CREC-2026-03-18.pdf)</sup>

**Early commutations.** The first commutation, on December 20, 2017, went to Sholom Rubashkin, who was serving a 324-month sentence for bank fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and related counts.<sup>[10](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/commutations-granted-president-donald-j-trump-2017-2021)</sup> On June 6, 2018, Trump commuted the life sentence of [Alice Marie Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/alice-marie-johnson), convicted in 1997 of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and money laundering.<sup>[10](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/commutations-granted-president-donald-j-trump-2017-2021)</sup>

**Late-term rounds.** Grant activity concentrated at the end of the term. A December 2020 round drew contemporaneous attention as a series of pardons for allies, announced alongside Trump's last-hour attack on the $900 billion stimulus bill.<sup>[11](https://www.axios.com/2020/12/23/trump-pardons-stimulus-threat)</sup> The largest tranche was signed on January 13 and January 19, 2021 and announced publicly on January 20, 2021.<sup>[5](https://pardons.hackingbutlegal.com/)</sup> A Senate Judiciary Committee testimony later analyzed the first-term record: excluding January 6-related actions, Trump issued 114 pardons or commutations, of which 41, more than one third, went to people convicted of fraud or fraud-adjacent charges.<sup>[12](https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/02/03/2026/2026-02-04-pm_testimony_weissmanpdf?download=1)</sup>

## The January 6 clemency proclamation

On January 20, 2025, his first day back in office, Trump issued a proclamation under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution that he described as ending "a grave national injustice" and beginning "a process of national reconciliation."<sup>[2](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/)</sup> It took three steps: it commuted to time served the sentences of named individuals, including [Oath Keepers](https://www.edgepedia.org/oath-keepers) founder [Stewart Rhodes](https://www.edgepedia.org/stewart-rhodes) and Kelly Meggs; it granted a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack; and it directed the Attorney General to pursue dismissal with prejudice of all pending indictments arising from those events.<sup>[2](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/)</sup> The Associated Press reported that the action pardoned, commuted, and ordered dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the attack, erasing what it called the largest criminal investigation in Justice Department history.<sup>[3](https://apnews.com/article/e6144415d4bb0aa22ee289f98830c32a)</sup>

The proclamation's scope has limits. In July 2026, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled that the blanket pardons did not apply to Brian J. Cole Jr., a Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs near the party headquarters on the eve of the riot, because the pardons explicitly applied to people convicted of crimes related to the January 6 attack and Cole had not been charged when they issued.<sup>[3](https://apnews.com/article/e6144415d4bb0aa22ee289f98830c32a)</sup>

## Other second-term grants

Individual grants followed quickly. On January 21, 2025, Trump pardoned Ross William Ulbricht, who was serving life imprisonment for aiding and abetting drug distribution over the internet, continuing criminal enterprise, and related offenses.<sup>[13](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)</sup> The next day he pardoned former Washington, D.C. police officer Terence Dale Sutton, Jr. and Andrew Zabavsky, convicted in 2024 cases involving second-degree murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice.<sup>[13](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)</sup>

**Business and political figures.** Later grants included a full pardon for [Rod Blagojevich](https://www.edgepedia.org/rod-blagojevich) on February 10, 2025, for wire fraud, extortion, and bribery convictions.<sup>[13](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)</sup> In March 2025 he pardoned Devon Archer, a business associate of [Hunter Biden](https://www.edgepedia.org/hunter-biden), convicted of securities fraud,<sup>[14](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/executive-grant-of-clemency-for-devon-archer/)</sup> along with the founders and company of the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, who had been sentenced for [Bank Secrecy Act](https://www.edgepedia.org/bank-secrecy-act) violations, and Trevor Milton, convicted of securities and wire fraud.<sup>[13](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)</sup> The May 28, 2025 round of 16 pardons and 6 commutations included reality television stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, convicted of bank fraud, tax evasion, and related charges, and Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover, serving a life sentence for a narcotics conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise.<sup>[13](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)</sup>

**Election-related and later grants.** On November 7, 2025, Trump issued a proclamation granting a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all U.S. citizens for conduct relating to the creation, organization, execution, support, or advocacy of slates of presidential electors in connection with the 2020 presidential election, whether or not recognized by any state.<sup>[15](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202501105/html/DCPD-202501105.htm)</sup> The same day he pardoned seven people, including former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and money laundering.<sup>[13](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)</sup> Later 2025 grants included a commutation for former congressman [George Santos](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-santos), who was sentenced to 87 months for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft; a pardon for Binance founder [Changpeng Zhao](https://www.edgepedia.org/changpeng-zhao); and a pardon for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was serving a 540-month sentence for cocaine importation conspiracy.<sup>[13](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)</sup> On December 5, 2025 he pardoned Tina Peters for offenses related to "election integrity and security" between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021.<sup>[13](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)</sup>

By mid-2026 the second term had produced nearly 2,000 pardons and commutations, against 236 in the first term, and the White House discussed issuing a further round of roughly 250 pardons tied to the nation's semiquincentennial celebrations.<sup>[6](https://theweek.com/law/trump-presidential-pardon-stop)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[16](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/06/trump-250-pardons-250th-birthday/687736/)</sup>

## Process and criticism

**Bypassing the traditional review.** Clemency petitions have historically been screened by career Justice Department lawyers at the Office of the Pardon Attorney, who weighed remorse, offense severity, and time served before forwarding recommendations.<sup>[17](https://apnews.com/article/a81cb5e1115dd7f9e3df69cfb19c948b)</sup> In Trump's second term, nearly 10,000 convicts requested pardons or commutations as grants came "early and often," and decisions were vetted by the [White House Counsel](https://www.edgepedia.org/white-house-counsel)'s Office, a White House pardon czar, and the Justice Department under pardon attorney Ed Martin Jr., a former defense lawyer for January 6 rioters.<sup>[17](https://apnews.com/article/a81cb5e1115dd7f9e3df69cfb19c948b)</sup> Liz Oyer, the Justice Department's former pardon attorney, who was fired in March 2025, described the result as "a free-for-all."

**Connections and payment.** Trump's second term has seen the emergence of a lobbying industry of pardon shoppers and clemency fixers who charge millions of dollars for the service.<sup>[18](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/10/pardon-power-congres-expand/688836/)</sup> The Campaign Legal Center has documented "brokered pardons," in which well-funded individuals hire connected lobbyists or fixers to secure clemency.<sup>[19](https://campaignlegal.org/update/inside-pardon-playbook-analysis-president-trumps-clemency-abuses)</sup> [Le Monde](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-monde) reported that Paul Walczak, convicted of tax evasion, was pardoned three weeks after his mother attended a dinner with Trump in exchange for a $1 million donation, and that the wife of [Trevor Milton](https://www.edgepedia.org/trevor-milton) donated $1.8 million to Trump's campaign months before his pardon.<sup>[20](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/10/24/trump-openly-grants-pardons-to-business-allies-and-political-supporters_6746737_4.html)</sup>

**Measured consequences.** A June 2025 report by Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee estimated that Trump's clemency grants relieved $1,348,607,386 in fines, forfeitures, and restitution owed to victims and the government.<sup>[7](https://www.axios.com/2025/06/17/trump-pardons-cost-democrats-report)</sup> A Lawfare review published in 2026 found that at least 97 of the more than 1,500 January 6 clemency recipients, nearly one in 16, had since been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of crimes unrelated to January 6, ranging from trespassing to grand larceny and fraud against the government.<sup>[8](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-jan-6-pardon-crime-spree-revealed-as-even-worse-than-known/)</sup> A study of Trump's first-term clemency justifications found that although the grants themselves were often controversial, the stated reasons were generally conventional and continuous with those offered by his predecessors.<sup>[21](https://bcuassets.blob.core.windows.net/docs/bjals-112-web-133131507623557698.pdf)</sup>

## References

1. [Congressional Record — House, March 18, 2026](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-03-18/pdf/CREC-2026-03-18.pdf)
2. [Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, The White House, January 20, 2025](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/)
3. [Trump's pardons for Jan. 6 rioters don't apply to DC pipe bomb suspect, judge rules, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/e6144415d4bb0aa22ee289f98830c32a)
4. [How presidents compare on pardons, commutations, other forms of clemency, Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/02/07/biden-granted-more-acts-of-clemency-than-any-prior-president/)
5. [Every Pardon and Commutation Granted by Donald Trump: A Complete Verified Record (2017–2026)](https://pardons.hackingbutlegal.com/)
6. [Is it time to rethink the US presidential pardon?, The Week](https://theweek.com/law/trump-presidential-pardon-stop)
7. [Trump's pardons cost the U.S. $1.3 billion, per House Dem report, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2025/06/17/trump-pardons-cost-democrats-report)
8. [Number of Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioters Who Reoffended Even Worse Than Known, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-jan-6-pardon-crime-spree-revealed-as-even-worse-than-known/)
9. [El precio del perdón, El País](https://elpais.com/internacional/2026-03-22/el-precio-del-perdon-la-floreciente-industria-de-los-indultos-bate-records-en-el-washington-de-trump.html)
10. [Commutations granted by President Donald J. Trump (2017–2021), Office of the Pardon Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/commutations-granted-president-donald-j-trump-2017-2021)
11. [Trump's chaos ploy, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2020/12/23/trump-pardons-stimulus-threat)
12. [Testimony of Andrew Weissmann, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, February 4, 2026](https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/02/03/2026/2026-02-04-pm_testimony_weissmanpdf?download=1)
13. [Clemency Grants by President Donald J. Trump (2025–Present), Office of the Pardon Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present)
14. [Executive Grant of Clemency for Devon Archer, The White House](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/executive-grant-of-clemency-for-devon-archer/)
15. [Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2025 (DCPD-202501105), govinfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202501105/html/DCPD-202501105.htm)
16. [The White House Considers Granting 250 Pardons for the Nation's Birthday, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/06/trump-250-pardons-250th-birthday/687736/)
17. [What to know about prisoners crafting clemency petitions to capture Trump's attention, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/a81cb5e1115dd7f9e3df69cfb19c948b)
18. [Want to Reform Democracy? Start Here., The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/10/pardon-power-congres-expand/688836/)
19. [Inside the Pardon Playbook: An Analysis of President Trump's Clemency Abuses, Campaign Legal Center](https://campaignlegal.org/update/inside-pardon-playbook-analysis-president-trumps-clemency-abuses)
20. [Trump openly grants pardons to business allies and political supporters, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/10/24/trump-openly-grants-pardons-to-business-allies-and-political-supporters_6746737_4.html)
21. [A study of Trump's clemency justifications, British Journal of American Legal Studies 11(2) (2022)](https://bcuassets.blob.core.windows.net/docs/bjals-112-web-133131507623557698.pdf)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Law and justice › Constitutional and administrative law › Separation of powers and executive power*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license