1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

In Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell recounts the case of Philip Esformes, convicted in 2019 for one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in U.S. history—totaling $1.3 billion. Esformes was sentenced to 20 years. Then, in December 2020, President Donald Trump commuted that sentence. According to Gladwell, Esformes' associates made substantial political donations to Trump’s campaign before the commutation. This sequence of events—conviction, donation, commutation—bears all the hallmarks of a transactional payoff. It raises critical questions about whether presidential clemency was used to reward financial loyalty rather than serve justice. Here are my questions to you, as my elected representative: 1 How is the commutation of a convicted Medicare fraudster, following significant campaign contributions, not an impeachable offense? 2 What oversight does Congress have to prevent this from becoming a repeatable model for pardons-for-pay? 3 Why has there been no formal investigation or bipartisan inquiry into this and other clemency decisions linked to donors? This isn’t just about one man or one administration—it’s about the erosion of ethical standards and equal justice under the law. If the presidency can be used to reward donors convicted of defrauding taxpayers, then the system itself is compromised. I urge you to pursue answers and action. Our democracy depends on it.