Noting a notable economic cost from white-collar pardoning

I have flagged in recent posts here and here and here that persons convicted of various white-collar offenses are now those most likely to be getting the benefit of Prez Trump's clemency pen.  And via this new Washington Post piece, headlined "Fired DOJ attorney says on TikTok that Trump pardons cost $1 billion," I see that former DOJ Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer is putting a notable pricetag on recent pardon practices.  Here are excerpts:

Liz Oyer, the Justice Department’s recently fired pardon attorney, made a staggering claim on social media this week: President Donald Trump’s pardons of people convicted of white-collar crimes have cost Americans $1 billion.

She arrived at the number by adding up all the money that people who were pardoned allegedly owed in restitution, based on how much they were convicted of stealing.  Some pardon recipients had not been sentenced, which means that a judge had not yet ruled on prosecutors’ calculations of what they owed back to their victims.  At least one pardon recipient had already started paying restitution and could attempt to get that money back.

Oyer, who has been outspoken against the Trump administration since her ouster, told The Washington Post that the $1 billion figure highlights the unusually high number of Republican allies convicted of fraud and pardoned by Trump before they served their sentences — a significant break from the traditional and often protracted pardon application process....

Much of the $1 billion Oyer cites comes from Trump’s pardon of Trevor Milton, the founder of an electric-truck company who was convicted of fraud in 2023.  Milton had been sentenced to four years in prison.  A judge had not yet determined the restitution he should pay; federal prosecutors told the judge in March that they believed Milton owed more than $680 million to defrauded shareholders, according to federal court records.

Trump’s pardons also wiped out a $100 million fine against a cryptocurrency exchange called HDR Global Trading Limited (BitMEX).  The company pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering laws to boost revenue.  Trump also pardoned four company executives who pleaded guilty to financial crimes....

In one of her TikTok videos, Oyer said Trump’s pardon last week of Michele Fiore — a Republican politician and activist in Nevada — cost Americans $70,000.  Fiore was convicted last year of taking money meant to honor slain police officers and using it for plastic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.

Fiore had not yet been sentenced when she received Trump’s pardon, but Oyer is assuming that a judge would have determined she owed at least $70,000 in restitution since that’s what she was convicted of stealing from Nevadans who donated to the fundraising campaign for the police officers.