President Donald Trump appeared to hint at a potential pardon for former Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer, a Republican who was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for insider trading, in a Truth Social post May 31.
Trump uploaded two letters from people asking him to pardon Buyer: one signed by 42 former members of Congress and dated April 2025, and another signed by five current members of Congress and dated June 2025. The posts come as the president faces criticism for being the first modern president to trade individual stocks and accusations that he may be profiting from his position.
A spokesperson for the White House did not answer an IndyStar question asking if Trump planned to pardon Buyer.
“We have nothing to share in addition to the President’s Truths at this time,” a spokesperson told IndyStar. “As always, President Trump is the ultimate decider on any pardons or commutations.”
Reached by IndyStar on June 2, Buyer said he appreciated Trump’s attention to the matter and maintained his innocence.
“It is horrific to go to prison for a crime I did not commit,” he said.
Trumps posts come more than a year after a petition asking for Buyer’s pardon was first submitted in 2025, Buyer said. He also said that in February 2026, Attorney General Todd Blanche officially recommended a pardon. Recommendations from the Department of Justice aren’t public records, and the final decision rests with Trump.
A pardon would not be unusual for the president. In the first year of his second term, more than half of Trump’s pardons were for people convicted of white-collar crimes, often fellow politicians or businessmen. Buyer also served as a member of Trump’s transition team in 2016.
In the letter from former congressmen, including Indiana Representatives Dan Burton and Ed Pease, the signers argue that Buyer was targeted by President Joe Biden’s administration due to Buyer’s leading role in impeaching former President Bill Clinton. It also notes he was convicted by a jury before a Clinton-appointed judge.
“Your full pardon for his criminal conviction and having (Department of Justice) dismiss the (Securities and Exchange Commission) civil case against him, will free Steve from the burden of public guilt wrongly placed upon him by the politically weaponized legal process,” the letter from former congressmen reads.
The second letter, which only includes one Indiana congressman, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, emphasizes Buyer’s military and congressional service in its request for a pardon. Buyer served in Congress from 1993 to 2011.
Buyer was convicted for purchasing Sprint shares ahead of its merge with T-Mobile, which Buyer had learned about during the course of his consultancy work in 2018, according to the Department of Justice. Then in 2019, as a consultant for the advisory firm Guidehouse, Buyer purchased Navigant Consulting shares after learning Guidehouse would acquire the company. He profited $126,000 and $223,000 off of these purchases, respectively.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Buyer’s request for them to hear the case, leaving the district court’s opinion standing.
Buyer told IndyStar that the case against him was built on circumstantial evidence and said the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a not-for-profit that regulates brokers and is overseen by the SEC, concluded that Guidehouse employees did not share insider information with Buyer. He also said that Trump administration officials had concluded three separate times that Biden had weaponized the DOJ against Buyer. IndyStar was not able to independently verify these claims, nor did Buyer provide documentation.
Contact breaking politics reporter Marissa Meador at mmeador@indystar.com or find her on X at @marissa_meador.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Could Trump pardon ex-Indiana congressman convicted of insider trading?
Reporting by Marissa Meador, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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