Exclusive — Trump the Merciful: Inside the President’s Pardons in First Year Back in Oval Office
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has been active on the pardon front upon his return to the White House, clearly carving out his vision for how arguably the most absolute of presidential powers should be used and aggressively framing it.
While his pardons of the January 6 protesters en masse—he pardoned all of them—have drawn the most attention, the president has been active beyond that. His pardon attorney at the Department of Justice, longtime conservative movement activist Ed Martin, prepared a memo for the president in late 2025 explaining it all. This never-before-seen memo, obtained by Breitbart News exclusively, calls 2025 “Truly a year of Trump Mercy.”
Martin’s message to the president notes how in his address to the Republican National Convention (RNC) in 2024 and the party platform the president adopted that he was focused explicitly on providing a voice to those left behind by political elites in the past and that since he has been back in office he has more than delivered on that promise, especially when it comes to pardons and grants of clemency. Again, the picture of Trump’s pardon vision is far broader than just the January 6 protesters—it includes a lot more than that, as Martin explains.
Courtesy Ed Martin Sr.
“In Milwaukee, in 2024, you dedicated the Republican Party platform to the ‘forgotten men and women of America,’” Martin wrote to the president. “In so many ways, you have lived up to this dedication and in one special way you have delivered via your power to grant clemency through pardon and commutation. You delivered mercy to the forgotten men and women of America in record numbers. You gave mercy to grandmothers, law enforcement officers and American Patriots expressing their dissatisfaction with the election of 2020. You gave businessmen their lives and work back. You helped the elderly live their lives to the fullest. You even returned Second Amendment rights to deserving Americans with your Firearms Rights Restoration Program, which allows felons to request clemency, so that they can once again protect themselves, their families and businesses, and know again the joys of gun collecting, target range practice and hunting. Time and again, you challenged us to find those who were targeted by the Biden and Obama administrations and give them relief. You also wanted to give people a second chance like you did in your record-setting First Step Act.”
The nine-page memo to the president from Martin then goes through a full list of all the pardons Trump issued since his return to the White House, from the January 6 protesters, to Ross Ulbricht, to two Washington DC police officers convicted in a vehicle crash, to 24 people with convictions related to FACE Act violations, to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, to Hunter Biden’s former business partners Devon Archer and Jason Galanis, to local and state officials in Nevada, Virginia, and Tennessee; to six different individuals who were convicted of violations related to the Bank Secrecy Act, and dozens of other instances.
The full document is available here:
2025 Report – Our Year of Trump Mercy – US Pardon Attorney Ed Martin by Breitbart News
In a brief interview with Breitbart News, Martin further explained how he sees Trump expanding and defining his pardon powers as his second term progresses.
“When I started as U.S. Pardon Attorney, President Trump mentioned two areas for priority,” Martin told Breitbart News. “First, he told me there are many men and women in America who deserve a second chance after making a mistake. He wants us to find them. My colleague, Pardon Czar Alice Johnson, is one of these deserving Americans and helps us find more. The second priority group is those who have been victimized by prosecutors and the government. President Trump has his own experience with the vicious bullies of the Obama and Biden years and wants to help the victims. I think these two priorities will remain important to the President. I have also come to see that he is interested in thinking creatively about how to help people through clemency. This may include posthumous pardons. More than anything, I believe President Trump is a positive thinker and he’s determined to use his pardon power to deliver mercy to people in this very positive way.”
Martin, who is Catholic, has a long history in the conservative movement and grassroots. He previously worked for Eagle Forum and was the designated successor of that historic organization founded by the late Phyllis Schlafly. Back during the 2016 presidential primary, when Schlafly endorsed Trump as one of her last acts before she passed away later that year, it caused major friction within the conservative grassroots as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was at the time running against Trump. In a major feature story for Breitbart News at the time, Schlafly and Martin as well as all sides of the fight went on record recounting the painful affair, but at the heart of it were Cruz’s allies, who were attempting to tear down Schlafly and Martin because Schlafly went for Trump over Cruz. Looking back on it all since then, it’s easily safe to say that Schlafly would be very proud of Martin—and of Trump—and the conservative legend would be happy to have gone out fighting for what Trump has since become during his first term and maybe even more so in his second term.
Recent reports across the establishment media have alleged that Todd Blanche, the number two at the Justice Department, has been fighting with Martin—but Martin told Breitbart News those reports are untrue and there is no fighting.
“I call it fake news,” Martin told Breitbart News. “Over the past year, my colleagues and I at DOJ have worked on thousands of matters and cases trying to help America and the American people. I’m proud to serve our nation and any one smearing and slurring against us is not telling the truth, maybe just for clicks. I’m proud to serve Donald J. Trump and his team – including Pam and Todd.”
Martin also cast some serious legal doubt on the authenticity of the pardons that former President Joe Biden issued via autopen.
“I am best positioned to compare President Trump‘s reverential use of the pardon power with that of President Biden,” Martin said when asked to compare Trump’s actions to other recent presidents’ actions when it comes to pardons. “President Trump starts from a love of people and his positive impulse to deliver mercy. Biden’s use was crass, even dirty. For example, he used the autopen and broad grants of commutation to give thousands of people pardons or clemency. To this day, we are unsure what Biden intended and we have had to review the actions. With the exception of his son Hunter, whose pardon received a wet signature, the rest of the work seems to have been done by staff and outsiders who had their own interest. I continue to review the Biden Pardon Attorney’s actions and widespread use of the autopen to confirm validity. In contrast, President Trump signs every one of the pardons or commutation and has put in place a process that makes sure that we review hundreds of thousands of applications. Bishop Fulton Sheen said that mercy is the perfection of justice. President Trump clearly agrees. To me, that’s really quite remarkable and I’m deeply grateful to be a part of his vision of mercy.”
