President Trump granted a pardon to former U.S. Representative Steven Byer, a Republican from Indiana. Byer had been convicted in 2018 for securities fraud related to insider trading while consulting for T-Mobile US during its merger with Sprint, which was valued at $23 billion.
The White House issued a statement on Friday, following the announcement made on Thursday. Interestingly, it didn’t delve into the specifics regarding why Byer was pardoned, aside from noting his “outstanding and extremely productive” service as both a U.S. Army judge advocate general and as a member of Congress.
In his proclamation, Trump mentioned that the pardon was a result of “advice and recommendation” from 52 current and former members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Byer, who previously served in Congress from 1993 to 2011, was convicted on four counts of securities fraud in March 2023 and received a 22-month prison sentence in September of the same year.
During his trial, it was revealed that Byer purchased Sprint stock after being informed by a T-Mobile executive about the impending merger talks in 2018. Additionally, he was involved in illegal transactions the following year, amassing over $100,000 from the Sprint deal and more than $200,000 from buying Navigant Consulting stock before it was bought by Guidehouse in 2019.
Byer, notable for his role as one of the House managers during Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999, took the witness stand and asserted that he hadn’t traded based on insider information. Prosecutors, however, requested a three-year prison sentence, alleging that Byer betrayed his clients’ trust and committed perjury.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to review Byer’s appeal against his conviction.
