House Democrats released a report during the week of June 16 that found President DonaldTrump’s 1,600 pardons are set to cost crime victims and the government $1.3 billion in fines and restitution. They pointed out that not only did the president clear their names and commute their prison sentences, he also absolved them of their obligation to pay back their victims.
“The President has shown total contempt not just for police officers but for the victims and survivors of crime, cheating them and all of society out of the money rightfully owed to them by violent marauders and white-collar fraudsters,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in a statement.
The report describes “an astonishing giveaway to lawbreakers to keep the money they stole from their employees, their investors, and all the American taxpayers.” However, an analysis reveals the report is flawed.
What flaws does the report contain?
To come up with their total, they used the total restitution amount imposed at sentencing for about 35 individuals. However, in cases that happened years ago, the restitution has been paid, and the offenders won’t be getting it back.
For instance, Ross Ulbricht, who founded the online drug marketplace Silk Road, was pardoned after serving nearly 12 years of a double life sentence and relieved of his $183 million restitution. However, the government auctioned off his Bitcoin years ago to wipe away his debt and it’s been paid.
An opinion from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel makes clear that any restitution awards that have been received by the victim prior to the granting of the pardon are not recoverable by the offender.
“The pardon cannot remit a restitution award that the victim has received. Once the victim takes possession, the Executive no longer has control over the award,” the Justice Department opinion states.
The opinion continued:
“As the Court stated in Knote, ‘if the proceeds of the sale have been paid to a party to whom the law has assigned them, they cannot be subsequently reached and recovered by the offender. The rights of the parties have become vested, and are as complete as if they were acquired in any other legal way.’”
In other cases, though, the restitution had either not been paid or only partially paid. Anything that hasn’t been paid yet won’t be.
Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley paid a portion of the more than $17 million in restitution owed to victims. They won’t have to pay the balance, and it’s unclear exactly how much remained.
Others, like tax cheat Paul Walczak, will get off free and clear. He admitted to using money that was supposed to go to employee taxes to fund an extravagant lifestyle, including the purchase of a yacht. He didn’t serve a day in jail and doesn’t appear to have paid any of the $4.4 million he owed in restitution.
Snorre Wik (Director of Photography/Non-Linear Editor),
Chris Field (Executive Editor),
and Ally Heath (Senior Digital Producer)
contributed to this report.
