Trump Grants Controversial Pardon to Insider Trading Convict Stephen Buyer

President Trump has issued a pardon to Stephen Buyer, a former US Representative from Indiana, who was convicted of securities fraud for insider trading in 2018 while serving as a consultant for T-Mobile US during a $23 billion merger with Sprint.

The White House announced the proclamation on Friday, which provided no clear justification for the pardon, merely stating that Buyer’s service as a US Army judge advocate general and member of Congress was “distinguished and highly productive.”

In granting Buyer a “full, complete and unconditional pardon,” Trump claimed to act on the “advice and recommendation” of 52 current and former members of Congress listed in the proclamation.

Buyer represented Indiana in the House from 1993 to 2011 before transitioning to corporate consulting. He was convicted in March 2023 on four counts of securities fraud and sentenced to 22 months in prison in September of the same year.

During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Buyer purchased Sprint stock after receiving insider information from a T-Mobile executive regarding merger discussions in 2018, and he executed further illegal trades the following year.

Prosecutors estimated that Buyer profited over $100,000 from the Sprint trades and more than $200,000 from stock purchases in Navigant Consulting Inc. prior to its acquisition by Guidehouse in 2019.

Notably, Buyer had previously served as one of the House managers during the 1999 impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton. He took the stand at his own trial, denying any wrongdoing related to insider trading.

Prosecutors sought a three-year prison sentence for Buyer, arguing that he had betrayed his clients' trust and lied under oath during his testimony.

The US Supreme Court declined to hear Buyer’s appeal regarding his conviction in May of this year.