Rep. Ayanna Pressley releases report showing Trump clemencies mostly benefited the white and wealthy

“Presidential clemency should be used to address injustices—not to reward political allies, corporations, and insurrectionists,” said the Massachusetts congresswoman.

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., released a first-of-its-kind analysis report on President Donald Trump‘s clemency actions since entering office in January, revealing that the pardons largely benefited white and wealthy individuals.

“Presidential clemency should be used to address injustices—not to reward political allies, corporations, and insurrectionists. As our report makes plain, the Trump White House has used this profound authority to shield extremists, restrict abortion access, reward corporations, and embolden corruption by erasing massive financial penalties for the wealthy and well-connected,” Pressley said in a statement.

“While millions of people suffer under mass incarceration—including Black, brown, low-income, LGBTQ+, and disabled folks—the Trump Administration has an opportunity to change course and use clemency to advance justice. We’re calling on them to do just that.”

The report “Trump’s Clemency Gap,” released on Tuesday, contains compiled data of Trump’s more than 1,700 pardons in 2025. Its results revealed that the president prioritized what Pressley’s office describes as his “most extreme supporters and political donors” while neglecting communities that have been “harmed” by the nation’s “unjust” criminal legal system.

The report relies on publicly reported federal clemency actions issued from Jan. 20, 2025, through Dec. 15, 2025, as well as Department of Justice records, the United States Sentencing Commission, academic research institutions, and news organizations.

According to Pressley’s report, 85% of those pardoned or had their convictions commuted by President Trump were white people, and very few of them were for drug offenses (only 5%), a category in which studies show those convicted are overcharged or disproportionately charged–namely Black and Latino defendants.

The report also found that Trump’s pardons include a loss of $1.4 billion in restitution and fines that the federal government could have used to fund “public goods, restorative justice programs, and more.” Trump also granted the first-ever pardon of a corporation to a multi-million-dollar global crypto company, BitMEX, which was convicted of violating money-laundering protections.

Additionally, Pressley’s report calls out the Trump Administration’s undermining of women’s reproductive health by issuing pardons for 10 out of 17 women who were convicted of obstructing or denying women’s access to health care.

“This focal point reeks of irony. Women in prisons are frequently denied quality reproductive healthcare,” the report reads.

Most notably, the majority of pardons issued by President Trump (more than 1,500) were for convicted rioters involved in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building.

“The insurrection resulted in multiple deaths, more than 170 police officers injured, and $2.7 million in property damages. Over 1,500 participants – 93% white and 87% male – were charged with several offenses ranging from theft of government property to assaulting law enforcement to seditious conspiracy,” the report reads.

The report also notes that despite more than 18,000 clemency petitions pending with the Office of the Pardon Attorney within the Department of Justice (DOJ), Trump “overwhelmingly granted clemency to people who circumvented the official DOJ review process.” Only 17 people, or 0.08%, were granted clemency through the Department of Justice application process.

In a letter to Trump’s pardon czar, Alice Johnson, whom Trump pardoned in 2020, Pressley urges her to use her influence in the White House to “help reunite families, address injustices in our legal system, and set our nation on the path toward ending mass incarceration.”

“The United States needs a clemency process that is rooted in justice for people disproportionately harmed. The use of mass pardons could help those who are serving lengthy sentences that would be significantly shorter today under current laws and those who were convicted of drug offenses as a consequence of the failed War on Drugs,” reads Pressley’s clemency report. “This would lead to clemency outcomes that result in more Black people who are incarcerated having a pathway to thrive in our society and meaningfully contribute to it.”

The report adds, “A person’s wealth or connections should not determine whether they receive clemency. The nation’s prisons are mostly filled with people who come from poverty and low-income backgrounds but nonetheless still deserve equal opportunity.”