Pressley Calls Out Trump’s Pardons of Convicted Fraudsters and His Own Record of Financial Misconduct

“If Republicans on this committee were serious about accountability and condemning fraud, they would start with the convicted fraudster in the White House.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – In a fiery exchange in the House Oversight Committee today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) slammed Trump and Republicans for being unserious about rooting out fraud as they ignore Trump’s pardons of convicted fraudsters, which have resulted in the loss of $1.4 billion dollars in restitution and fines. When Congresswoman Pressley questioned Republican Minnesota legislators about whether they support Trump’s pardons of George Santos, global crypto company BitMEX, and January 6^th insurrectionists, the witnesses refused to take a stand.

The exchange came during the committee’s hearing on federal funds in Minnesota.

Last month, Congresswoman Pressley released a report revealing how Donald Trump’s use of clemency and pardons has neglected many of the most marginalized and impacted communities. The report highlighted, among other things, that Trump has used his clemency authority to shield extremists and erase massive financial penalties for insurrectionists, the wealthy, and well-connected.

An excerpt from the exchange is below and the video is available here.

Transcript: In Fiery Exchange, Pressley Blasts Trump, Republicans’ Hypocrisy on ‘Fraud’ in Hearing on Minnesota
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
January 7, 2026

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you. Mr. Chair. 

Let me just begin by making this plain: credible fraud must be investigated and prevented. 

Every dollar that is stolen from public programs is a dollar that is taken from a child who needs care, a senior who needs food, or a family that is already struggling to make ends meet. 

Ms. Robbins, I want to just begin with a basic question, and please answer yes or no:

When someone is convicted of defrauding the public, do you believe that they should be held accountable? 

MS. ROBBINS: Yes. 

REP. PRESSLEY: So if we’re serious about fraud, then we also have to be serious about accountability. 

Ms. Robbins, what does, do you mind just expounding, what does accountability look like to you?

MS. ROBBINS: We want to prosecute everyone who’s committed a crime, and we want to fire officials in the agencies that are liable for allowing the failure of internal controls.

REP. PRESSLEY: Okay, so Ms. Robbins, let me be more clear, what should happen to fraudsters who steal public dollars?

MS. ROBBINS: They should go to jail. 

REP. PRESSLEY: In my opinion, accountability means restitution. It means consequences, like incarceration, that help ensure that it doesn’t happen again, you know, as a real deterrent and accountability.

It means that money taken from families and the public is returned to them, but that is not the standard that is being set by Donald Trump, who is wielding his clemency authority to allow fraudsters to escape accountability altogether.

Last month, my office published a clemency report titled “Trump’s Clemency Gap: How Trump’s Pardons Are Ignoring the People Who Need Them the Most.” I ask unanimous consent to enter this into the record. Thank you.

Now to the witnesses who serve in the Minnesota state legislature on the Fraud Prevention Committee, let’s walk through these pardons for fraudsters, and we all care about fraud. 

So, Ms. Robbins, Mr. Hudson, and Ms. Rarick, Donald Trump pardoned George Santos, who defrauded voters and owed them $370,000 in restitution to victims. Raise your hand if you oppose this pardon.

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you, Mr. Ballou.

MS. ROBBINS: Ma’am. I would have to look at the law and the facts of the case. We cannot know the facts of all these individuals.

REP. PRESSLEY: Please don’t deflect. This is a very public case. You know who George Santos is. You know exactly what he did. We just agreed that, you know, fraud is unacceptable and so and you just talked about accountability. 

You said, if people commit fraud and exploit the public good, that they should be incarcerated. So this is not a complicated question.

So I will give you all one more opportunity. Ms. Robbins, Mr. Hudson, and Ms. Rarick, raise your hand if you oppose the pardon of George Santos. 

MR. HUDSON: Not playing this game. 

REP. PRESSLEY: It’s not a game. It’s real life. It’s not a game at all. Okay, but I will take your refusal to go on record, not only as cowardice, but that you do agree with that pardon of that fraudster. Moving on. 

Donald Trump also gave, this has never been done before, presidential pardons to corporations that committed fraud. One example is the crypto company BitMEX that violated US law and was fined $100 million.

Now raise your hand if you oppose Trump’s pardon of this crypto company.

Thank you, Mr. Ballou.

MR. HUDSON: Not participating. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Okay again. I’ll take your refusal to not raise your hand in opposition. That means that you support this pardon of this corporation that frauded folks to the tune of $100 million.

MR. HUDSON: Refusal to participate is not an expression one way or another. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Reclaiming my time.

[cross talk]

REP. PRESSLEY: Reclaiming my time. You are not in order with the rules of committee. This is my time. Do not speak over me. 

Mr. Chair? You are not in order with the rules of the committee. This is my time.

I ask the questions and you answer, but you’re too much of a coward to answer. So we’re going to move on.

Now yesterday was the five-year anniversary, and I want to note, of the January 6 insurrection. And on Donald Trump’s first day in office, he pardoned 1,500 insurrectionists, including Brian Christopher Mock who’s from Minnesota. 

Are y’all gonna say you don’t know who that is? He’s from Minnesota. 

Now, he kicked, shoved, and threw a flag pole at police officers, you know, law enforcement that you claim to support, and he did all of that in the name of fraud. 

He was an election denier, so an election fraud lie. Now he claims he did these things in the name of patriotism, but really, he’s just a criminal. 

So raise your hand if you oppose Trump’s pardon of this Minnesota individual.

MS. ROBBINS: Ma’am this grandstanding — 

REP. PRESSLEY: This is not grandstanding. This is accountability, and you are hypocrites.

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