Donald J. Trump, the stand-up president that he thinks he is, the president that likes to help people, has given presidential pardons along with the erasure of restitution to convicted criminals. But what he won’t do is to forgive student loans to people who cannot afford to pay them back or pay his workers.
Presidential pardons are being utilized not just for criminal clemency, but as a mechanism to wipe out significant financial obligations owed to the government and private victims. The total amount of the debt forgiven through these actions now exceeds $2 billion.
The total debt relief is comprised of two primary categories: criminal restitution and abandoned civil penalties.
Over $1.3 billion in debts owed to taxpayers and crime victims has been wiped out over the last year due to the legal effect of Trump’s pardons.
Approximately $800 million in potential penalties was recently abandoned by the SEC under the leadership of Trump appointee Paul Atkins.
Regarding $800 million of the debt forgiven, the SEC forgave debts of just three fraudsters like Trump. These fraudsters that were convicted no longer have to pay back the people that they took money from illegally. Just stick that thought under your cap and mow over it.
The three are Trevor Milton with a company called Nikola Motor, Carlos Watson with a company called Ozy Media, and Devin Archer, with a company many have heard about, Burisma.
Trevor Milton was convicted of defrauding investors of over $600 million. But even with the conviction, he received a pardon from Trump following significant donations to Trump and the hiring of Brad Bondi (brother of AG Pam Bondi) as counsel. As the saying goes, “it’s who you know”. If you are a wealthy criminal, all you have to do is flash money in front of Trump, and you will get a pardon in return.
The second fraudster, Carlos Watson, owed approximately $97 million for cheating investors. But again, “its who you know”. Watson reportedly leveraged connections, including a $1 million payment to a well-connected attorney.
Devin Archer is the last of the three fraudsters here in this story. He only owed $60 million, Trump change, for defrauding Native American tribes and worker pension funds.
Again, “it’s who you know.” Devin Archer received a pardon after agreeing to assist Congressional investigations into Hunter Biden. He ultimately was granted a full pardon by Donald J. Trump, and no longer had to pay back the people he defrauded. And as always with Donald J. Trump, “it’s who you know”.
The SEC is doing Trump’s bidding. They do what he wants them to do. The SEC’s decision to walk away from these civil enforcement actions suggests a shift in agency priorities under current leadership of Donald J. Trump. Their main goal in pardons such as these are to prioritize the protection of pardon recipients over the recovery of funds for defrauded investors. Again, as stated many other times in my posts, it’s corruption at the core.