The Daily Beast Podcast How Trump Could Bury Any of His Goons' Crimes
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Feb 24, 2026 
Liz Oyer, former White House pardons attorney who tracks presidential clemency, exposes Trump’s “pardon economy.” She walks through eye-popping clemency cases, pay-for-access lobbying, wiped restitution, surprise on-the-spot pardons, and the political and legal fallout of transactional mercy.
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Pardons Turned Into A Pay For Play System
- Donald Trump has transformed the pardon power into a transactional, monetized tool rather than a mercy-based checkered by DOJ merit rules.
- Liz Oyer cites cases like the Chrisleys whose unpaid $10M-plus restitution was wiped out after political support and campaign activity.
Mar-a-Lago Dinner Bought A Full Pardon
- Paul Walsack's mother paid $1 million for dinner at Mar-a-Lago and days later Trump issued a full pardon for Walsack.
- The judge had sentenced Walsack to 18 months to signal wealth shouldn't buy impunity, yet the pardon negated that sentence.
CZ's Investment Preceded His Pardon
- Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) brokering a $2 billion investment into the Trump family crypto venture preceded his full pardon.
- Liz Oyer frames this as a direct enrichment of Trump's family tied to clemency for alleged national-security harms.