Victims furious as staggering hidden price tag of Trump’s booming pardon spree revealed

President Donald Trump’s clemency orders have affected more than $1 billion in federal fines and restitution since he returned to office, a new investigation found, and fraud victims ranging from small family businesses to retirees have been left with little hope of getting their money back.

CBS News reviewed court judgments in more than 160 clemency orders issued from January 2025 through October 2026. The review excluded the more than 1,500 grants tied to the 2020 election and Jan. 6.

Here’s how the total breaks down:

• About $119.4 million in court-ordered restitution owed directly to victims was wiped out.
• Nearly $120 million in fines that would have gone to the federal Crime Victims Fund was erased.
• About $665.8 million in restitution sought by prosecutors was cut off before judges could rule.
• About $170.9 million is owed jointly by pardoned defendants and co-defendants who did not receive clemency.

That adds up to about $1.08 billion. By contrast, President Joe Biden’s clemency orders erased about $14,000 in restitution over four years, according to Justice Department records. Most of Biden’s orders were commutations that left financial penalties intact, CBS noted. A House Judiciary Committee report earlier put the cost to crime victims even higher, at $1.7 billion.

At least 18 people freed from fines or restitution had White House ties: Trump’s lawyers, lobbyists or allies advocated for them, or they or their relatives donated to his reelection campaign. About 70% of Trump’s second-term clemency actions bypassed the Justice Department’s pardon office.

The largest single debt erased was nearly $49 million owed by siblings Andres and Adriana Camberos, who were convicted of defrauding food makers. It was the second time Trump had granted Adriana Camberos clemency. Prosecutors said the pair launched the scheme within weeks of her release after the first. A White House official called the case a “political prosecution.”

“We’ve just constantly been fighting to survive, and this is just one more kick in the b---s,” said Abraham Kamarck, whose small veteran-owned company was owed $17,800.

Former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton was pardoned about two weeks after prosecutors sought $660.8 million in restitution. He and his wife had given almost $3 million to pro-Trump groups about five months before the pardon. Milton said the pardon “was not tied to anything,” and a White House official said donations “played absolutely no role.”

David Gentile, convicted of a $1.6 billion fraud, served 12 days of a seven-year sentence before Trump commuted it and freed him from paying restitution. Prosecutors later gathered evidence that Gentile had discussed paying $2.5 million to secure his commutation, but political appointees at the Justice Department shut down that investigation, people familiar with the matter told CBS. A retired priest close to Trump, with whom Gentile allegedly discussed the payment, denied any money was paid. Gentile’s lawyer did not respond to CBS.

One of Gentile’s victims, three-time Trump voter Jeffrey Rosenbery, lost $250,000, money he said he had “put away for my grandchildren.”

White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Trump “exercises his constitutional authority to issue pardons and commutations at his discretion” and that “anyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money.”