Donald Trump just wiped the slate clean for another political ally. Stephen Buyer is free. The former Indiana Republican congressman, who traded his congressional pin for prison scrubs after getting caught in an insider trading scheme, received a full, unconditional presidential pardon. The system works. At least for some.
Buyer spent nearly two years behind bars. A judge locked him up for 22 months in 2023 after prosecutors proved he used non-public information to line his pockets while working as a lobbyist and consultant. He had to cough up $350,000 in dirty profits and pay a $10,000 fine. He walked out of prison in 2025. Now, his record is clean.
Trump signed the paperwork on Thursday. The White House quietly dumped the news late Friday. Classic timing. In the official decree, Trump praised Buyer’s “distinguished” career as an Army judge advocate general and his time in Congress.
Buyer, now 67, is playing the victim. He claims the prosecution was a political hit job and insists he did nothing wrong. He called his imprisonment “horrific.” He has always had friends in high places. Back in 1998, he was one of the House prosecutors trying to kick Bill Clinton out of office. By 2016, he was helping Trump’s transition team.
The lobbying effort for his freedom was loud. Trump hyped it up on Truth Social back in May, sharing letters from Buyer’s allies. More than 40 former Republican lawmakers signed a letter claiming the “deep state” targeted Buyer because of the Clinton impeachment. They called it “lawfare” by the Biden administration. Five sitting House Republicans, including Tom Cole and Pete Sessions, sent their own letter begging for “justice.”
The actual crimes were pretty straightforward. Buyer got caught trading on secrets about the $26.5 billion T-Mobile and Sprint merger in 2018. He also made illegal trades involving Navigant before its acquisition by his client, Guidehouse. The Constitution gives presidents the power to hand out these favors. It doesn’t erase the history. But it sure helps you forget it.
