Tim Leiweke pardon, white collar crime, law and order matter!

When a president pardons people who are accused of rigging public contracts, it undercuts the idea that law and order apply to everyone. Tim Leiweke was indicted by the Justice Department for allegedly leading a bid-rigging scheme on the University of Texas Moody Center project, where prosecutors say he worked with a rival firm to shut down real competition and tilt a public deal in his company’s favor. Oak View Group agreed to pay 15 million dollars and Legends Hospitality 1.5 million dollars in penalties in connection with the investigation, which DOJ described as a serious antitrust case that hurt taxpayers and fair markets. Before any jury could hear the evidence, Tim Leiweke received a full and unconditional pardon from the same administration that brought the charges. That looks less like mercy and more like a special escape hatch for well-connected executives. This is not an isolated decision. A recent House Judiciary Committee staff analysis found that President Trump’s pardons and commutations have wiped out about 1.3 billion dollars in fines and restitution owed by nearly 1,600 people, many of them convicted of white collar crimes. That money was supposed to go to victims, taxpayers, and funds that support crime survivors. Canceling those penalties tells ordinary people that if you steal on a large enough scale, or have the right connections, the consequences may simply disappear. People who care about public safety and people who care about limited government should both see a problem here. Weak enforcement against elite fraud and corruption is a quiet tax on everyone else. I am asking you to treat this latest pardon, and others like it, as a warning sign. Strengthen the guardrails around clemency by requiring public explanations, independent review, and a strong presumption that victims are repaid before a pardon is even considered. Hold hearings on high-profile pardons that erase white collar penalties, including the Leiweke case, and use your oversight power to make sure the pardon process cannot be used to routinely shield powerful people from accountability. If “law and order” is going to mean anything, the law has to bind wealthy executives as much as it binds everyone else.