President Trump has pardoned a former Indiana congressman who was convicted of insider trading in 2023, adding another white-collar clemency to a growing list.
Stephen E. Buyer, a Republican who represented Indiana in the House from 1993 to 2011, was sentenced to 22 months in prison after being found guilty on four counts of securities fraud. The pardon was endorsed by current and former Republican lawmakers, including Senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and former House Speaker John Boehner, according to the proclamation dated June 4.
“Mr. Buyer’s career serving as a Judge Advocate General in the United States Army and as a Member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Indiana was distinguished and highly productive,” Trump said in the pardon proclamation.
The Crimes
Buyer was convicted of trading stock based on confidential information about two corporate mergers. The information came from clients of the consulting firm he formed after leaving Congress.
In one instance, Buyer learned of T-Mobile’s plan to acquire Sprint from an executive at T-Mobile — one of his consulting clients. He then purchased $568,000 in Sprint securities. When the merger became public, the stock rose in value, and Buyer made a profit of more than $107,000, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In another deal in 2019, Buyer learned from a client, the professional services firm Guidehouse, that it would acquire Navigant, a competitor. Buyer bought more than $1 million of Navigant stock. After the acquisition was announced, he sold it for a profit of more than $227,000.
In total, Buyer made approximately $334,000 from the illegal trades.
The SEC had asked the court to order Buyer and his wife to surrender the gains of their trades with interest and to bar Buyer from serving as an officer or director of a company.
The Pattern
Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has issued a wave of pardons and commutations. Dozens have been granted to people accused of white-collar crimes, giving rise to an industry of right-wing operatives hired to bring clemency requests to the president.
Buyer’s pardon fits that pattern. He is a former Republican lawmaker with connections to powerful figures in the party. His endorsement by current senators and a former House speaker suggests a coordinated effort to secure clemency.
Buyer’s lawyer, Andrew Goldstein, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When the charges were filed in 2022, Goldstein said his client was innocent.
The Broader Context
Buyer, 67, was first elected to the House in 1992. He announced his retirement from Congress in 2010 to care for his wife, Joni Lynn Buyer, who he said was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
The case comes as Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been grappling with insider trading by lawmakers, who have access to classified information, meet business leaders, and set economic policy. House Republicans have advanced a bill that would impose some restrictions on buying and selling stock by lawmakers and their relatives, though Democrats said the bill contained loopholes that undermined its purpose.
Trump’s pardon of Buyer sends a different message. A congressman was convicted of making hundreds of thousands of dollars from illegal stock trades. He did not serve his full sentence. The president erased his conviction entirely.
The Bottom Line
President Trump pardoned former Indiana congressman Stephen Buyer, who was convicted of insider trading in 2023 and sentenced to 22 months in prison. Buyer made approximately $334,000 in illegal profits from trading stock based on confidential information about two corporate mergers. The pardon was endorsed by Republican senators Roger Wicker and Lindsey Graham, and former House Speaker John Boehner. Trump has issued dozens of pardons to white-collar criminals since returning to the White House.
