Overview

• President Trump granted a full pardon to Paul Walczak, who had pleaded guilty to withholding over $10 million in employee payroll taxes to fund a luxury lifestyle.
• The pardon followed Walczak’s mother, Elizabeth Fago, paying $1 million-per-plate for a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser that promised face-to-face time with Trump.
• Walczak’s clemency nullifies an 18-month prison term and roughly $4.4 million in court-ordered restitution imposed just 12 days before the pardon.
• Elizabeth Fago has hosted multiple Trump campaign fundraisers, raised millions for Republicans and was linked to a 2020 scheme to publicize Ashley Biden’s diary.
• The case underscores a broader pattern of Trump using clemency for loyalists, including over 1,500 January 6 defendants and other political allies.