A new report from The Wall Street Journal has exposed what some are calling a two-tiered system for presidential pardons under President Donald Trump’s second term.
According to multiple sources familiar with the process, individuals with the right connections or enough money have found a faster route to presidential clemency, sometimes bypassing the traditional review process entirely.
In this informal pardon pipeline, lobbyists close to Trump reportedly charge $1 million upfront to push for pardons, and success bonuses of up to $6 million have been offered.
The Case of Changpeng Zhao
One high-profile example is the case of Changpeng Zhao, the founder of cryptocurrency giant Binance.
Zhao had pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering laws and served a four-month prison sentence. His company paid a $4.3 billion fine as part of the settlement.
Despite this, Zhao was pardoned by Trump in October, after a direct appeal was made inside the Oval Office.
Lobbyist Ches McDowell met with Trump at the White House, reportedly during a posthumous Medal of Freedom ceremony for Charlie Kirk.
McDowell had been brought to the event by Donald Trump Jr., and after a private conversation with the president, Trump agreed to sign off on Zhao’s pardon.
McDowell told The Wall Street Journal that Donald Trump Jr. had no role in the request and had left the room before the pardon came up.
A spokesperson for Trump Jr. declined to comment. Zhao’s lawyer, Teresa Goody Guillén, stated that his pardon was not tied to any business dealings and that he was “pardoned for justice.”
Political and Business Backlash
But the pardon caused an uproar. Democrats criticized the decision, especially because Binance has had business ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto company co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and others.
According to The Journal, Binance had paid roughly $800,000 to lobbyists and even offered other firms bonuses of up to $5 million to help secure a pardon.
Tom Clare, a lawyer for World Liberty Financial, denied any involvement in the pardon effort and said the Trump sons don’t manage the company’s operations.
He added that the company ”did not discuss, facilitate or influence Zhao’s pardon.”
The backlash wasn’t just from Democrats. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and GOP donor Joe Lonsdale reportedly raised concerns, and longtime Trump ally Laura Loomer called it a “terrible pardon idea.”
A Pattern of Surprise Pardons
Zhao wasn’t the only recipient of unexpected clemency. In recent months, Trump has also pardoned:
- Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of helping traffic 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S.
- Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), accused of taking $600,000 in bribes.
- Sports executive Tim Leiweke, indicted by Trump’s own Justice Department.
Each of these pardons came with little or no warning to Trump’s senior staff, according to The Journal.
Even Roger Stone, a close Trump confidant who had pushed for Hernández’s pardon, said he was surprised by how fast it happened.
“They think he was treated horribly, and they asked me to do it,” Trump told Politico when asked about the Hernández pardon. “I know very little about him.”
Two Tracks to Clemency
The shift from Trump’s first term to his second has been stark. In his first year, he granted just two acts of clemency.
This time around, he pardoned more than 1,500 people on day one and has continued to do so at a steady pace.
Insiders told The Journal that two clear paths now exist for those seeking clemency.
One goes through official channels: the pardon office at the Justice Department, White House counsel Dave Warrington, and pardon czar Alice Johnson.
The other is far more direct, getting in front of Trump at Mar-a-Lago or at an event and making a case personally.
Trump reportedly responds well to claims of “unjust persecution” and has repeatedly framed many pardons as correcting “witch hunts.”
Pardons Become Big Business
Critics, including Liz Oyer, the Justice Department’s former pardon attorney who was fired in March, say this undermines the clemency system.
The president “appears to be considering political, personal, and financial interests and not the interests of the American public,” Oyer told The Journal.
Lobbying for pardons has become its own business. A firm run by former Trump aide Keith Schiller received $1 million to lobby on behalf of a developer convicted of bribing Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
Conservative operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were paid $960,000 to help a former nursing-home operator get clemency after defrauding the government of $38 million. Trump granted that pardon.
Political Risks Ahead
Despite the backlash over Zhao’s pardon, Trump downplayed it on CBS’s 60 Minutes: “I know nothing about it because I’m too busy. My sons are into it. I’m glad they are, because it’s probably a great industry, crypto.”
As the 2026 elections approach, Trump advisers worry this informal pardon system could become a key issue if Democrats regain control of Congress.
In the meantime, the price of clemency appears to be rising, and access, once again, is everything.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.