Overview
- After an 18-hole round on November 16, Trey Gowdy raised his client’s case with President Trump, first seeking help to secure a meeting with prosecutors and later advocating for a nonprosecution deal, according to reports.
- Trump issued a full and unconditional pardon in early December, immediately terminating the federal criminal prosecution, with the White House stressing the president’s constitutional clemency authority.
- Federal prosecutors had charged Leiweke over an alleged scheme to steer the $375 million University of Texas Moody Center arena contract; he pleaded not guilty and had faced up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
- A senior Trump antitrust official, Omeed Assefi, had described the government’s case as “airtight” about a month before the pardon, highlighting tensions between Justice Department enforcement and the use of clemency.
- Civil enforcement continues, including the Justice Department’s broader case targeting competition in live events, and Leiweke initially invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in a related deposition pending formal dismissal of the criminal matter.