Trump pardons cost crime victims $1.7 billion, report says
House Judiciary Committee report details how clemency was sold through influencers and fixers.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

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Photograph: Common Dreams (embedded from source)
What this story says
- President Donald Trump's pardons have resulted in $1.7 billion in lost compensation for crime victims, according to a House Judiciary Committee report.
- The report details how Trump's administration allegedly sold access to the pardon power through influencers and fixers.
- Leaked letters from Natalie Harp, an assistant to Trump, express her deep devotion to him.
- Reuters identified 290 advocates who assisted in securing clemency for 197 individuals.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 11 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
59/100
Hype
41/100
11 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 2 of the 11 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
President Donald Trump's pardons have cost crime victims $1.7 billion in compensation, according to a report from the House Judiciary Committee. The committee's analysis examines how the administration allegedly sold access to the pardon power through influencers and fixers, turning the process into a system of "cash-for-clemency."
The report, released by the ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin, states that Trump consolidated control of the pardon power within the White House. This allowed individuals with connections to the president to act as gatekeepers. Reuters identified 290 advocates who publicly or privately helped secure clemency for 197 recipients. Among these advocates, 73 assisted in more than one pardon or sentence commutation.
Separately, leaked letters written by Natalie Harp, an assistant to Donald Trump, express her devotion to the president. In the letters, Harp refers to herself using the pseudonym "the human printer" and states, "You are all that matters to me, I don't want to disappoint you."
Disagreement on pardon recipients
Common Dreams reported that Trevor Milton, an auto company executive convicted of defrauding investors, was potentially liable for nearly $700 million in restitution. After he and his wife donated $1.8 million to committees supporting Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2024, Milton received a pardon that eliminated his obligation. Common Dreams also stated that Jason Galanis, convicted of stealing millions from the Oglala Sioux Nation and defrauding pension funds, avoided paying over $84 million in restitution after Trump pardoned him in early 2025. The New Republic reported that Trump's pardons of fraudsters cost victims nearly $2 billion.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports below mention the $1.7 billion cost estimate for crime victims from President Trump's pardons, as detailed in the House Judiciary Committee report. Similarly, none of the right-rated reports mention the 290 advocates identified by Reuters who helped secure clemency for 197 recipients.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 21 Aug 2026, 19:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

«Sei tutto ciò che conta per me, non voglio deluderti» Rivelato il contenuto delle lettere di Natalie Harp a Trump
Il Messaggero — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
8 rated outlets
- Seven left-rated reports led on the House Judiciary Committee's findings that President Donald Trump's pardons cost crime victims $1.7 billion in compensation. These reports highlighted the committee's examination of how Trump allegedly sold access to his pardon power through influencers and fixers, creating a "cash-for-clemency" system. Common Dreams quoted Rep. Jamie Raskin, stating Trump turned "one of the most solemn constitutional powers of the presidency and turned it into a bustling marketplace for insider political influence and unjust personal enrichment." Common Dreams and The New Republic detailed specific cases where pardons allegedly eliminated significant restitution owed to victims, such as Trevor Milton and Jason Galanis. Common Dreams also noted Trump's pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. Several left-rated reports, including Raw Story, t-online, The Parnas Perspective, Joe.My.God., and nd-aktuell.de, focused on leaked letters written by Natalie Harp to Trump, describing her devotion and using phrases like "You are all that matters to me" and "You are my guardian."
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from Il Messaggero focused on leaked letters written by Natalie Harp to Donald Trump. The report detailed Harp's expressions of devotion, including phrases such as "You are all that matters to me" and "I don't want to disappoint you." It also noted her use of the pseudonym "the human printer" and her desire for a job where her "only task is to talk to you and look beautiful."
Right
2 rated outlets
- Two right-rated reports, BT and focus.de, led on leaked letters written by Trump assistant Natalie Harp. Both reports described the letters as revealing a "bizarre relationship" and "deep devotion" to Trump. BT quoted the phrase "You are my guardian," while focus.de noted Harp confessed her "deep devotion" to Trump in personal letters published by The Daily Beast.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Trump pardons cost crime victims $1.7 billion, report says?
- Of the 11 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 73% are rated left, 9% are rated centre, 18% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Trump pardons cost crime victims $1.7 billion, report says left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 11 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Trump pardons cost crime victims $1.7 billion, report says biased?
- Trump pardons cost crime victims $1.7 billion, report says is one event reported by 11 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Trump pardons cost crime victims $1.7 billion, report says?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Trump pardons cost crime victims $1.7 billion, report says?
- 11 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- How much money have Trump's pardons cost crime victims?
- According to a report from the House Judiciary Committee, President Donald Trump's pardons have cost crime victims $1.7 billion in compensation. This figure represents the amount of restitution and fines that victims allegedly did not receive due to the pardons.
- What did the House Judiciary Committee report find about Trump's pardon process?
- The report found that President Trump allegedly sold access to his pardon power through influencers and fixers, creating a "cash-for-clemency" system. It suggests that connections to Trump's inner circle became a determining factor in granting pardons, rather than traditional Department of Justice guidelines.
- Who is Natalie Harp and what was revealed about her relationship with Trump?
- Natalie Harp is an assistant to President Donald Trump. Leaked letters written by Harp to Trump express her deep devotion to him, using phrases like "You are all that matters to me" and referring to herself as "the human printer."
- How many advocates were involved in securing clemency?
- Reuters identified 290 advocates, described as influencers, who publicly or privately assisted in securing clemency for 197 recipients. Some of these advocates worked on multiple cases, contributing to a total of 624 acts of influence.
Read it at the source
11 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
8- Corrupt ‘Cash-for-Clemency’ Trump Pardons Have Cost Crime Victims $1.7 Billion in Damages (opens Common Dreams in a new tab)
Common Dreams — is Common Dreams biased? Our profile of this outlet
- 'Written in code?' New theory floated about Trump-obsessed staffer's letters (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- "From All Hearts": Journalist Publishes Letters From "Natalie" to Trump (opens t-online in a new tab)
- The extraordinary letters Trump aide Natalie Harp reportedly left for him on trip (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- NEWS: Concerning Natalie Harp Letters Exposed, Billions Stolen From Pardon Victims, and 68,000 Indiana Homes Still Without Power (opens The Parnas Perspective in a new tab)
The Parnas Perspective — is The Parnas Perspective biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump’s Pardons Cost Victims $1.7 Billion In Restitution (opens Joe.My.God. in a new tab)
Joe.My.God. — is Joe.My.God. biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump Pardons of Fraudsters Cost Victims Nearly $2 Billion (opens The New Republic in a new tab)
The New Republic — is The New Republic biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Natalie Harp: Trump's Most Loyal Disciple (opens nd-aktuell.de in a new tab)
nd-aktuell.de — is nd-aktuell.de biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
1Right
2Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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