Overview
- People familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that Trey Gowdy raised Leiweke’s case with the president during a Nov. 16 round of golf and later sought a meeting with prosecutors and a nonprosecution deal.
- The White House said the president is the final decider on clemency, and a document confirms a full and unconditional pardon for the Oak View Group co‑founder.
- Leiweke had pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he rigged the $375 million University of Texas Moody Center bid and faced up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
- Prosecutors alleged he promised business to a company co‑founded by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to keep it from bidding, with Live Nation veteran Irving Azoff acting as an intermediary.
- The pardon undercuts the DOJ’s criminal case and complicates related civil antitrust litigation; Leiweke thanked the president by phone, initially invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in a civil deposition, and said he plans to launch a new company and buy a sports team.