News blog about US politics
Insider trading: Trump pardons buyer
Updated June 7, 2026 – 7:07 a.mReading time: 15 minutes
The US President pardons a party colleague. Pete Hegseth makes a comparison to D-Day. All developments in the news blog.
Trump pardons former Republican representative
Donald Trump has pardoned former Republican congressman Steve Buyer, who was convicted of insider trading in 2023. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Buyer, as a business advisor, used confidential information to buy stocks before major announcements and later sell them for a profit of over $300,000. A court sentenced him to 22 months in prison after the judge responsible for the case described the evidence as “clear”.
The pardon came after appeals from prominent Republicans such as Lindsey Graham and John Boehner, who criticized the allegations against Buyer as politically motivated. Trump said the pardon was a recognition of Buyer’s “deserving career.” The 67-year-old, a Gulf War veteran, was a member of Congress from 1993 to 2011 and played a central role in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton.
The pardon is part of Trump’s efforts to attack the Biden administration’s justice policies, which he has repeatedly described as “politicized.” It is the 13th pardon of a current or former member of Congress during his two terms. Critics accuse Trump of using the pardons specifically to protect political allies and undermine the independence of the judiciary.
Additional criticism comes from allegations against Trump himself, who recently hit the headlines because of his own financial dealings. He is said to have bought shares in large companies such as Microsoft and Amazon before the Pentagon announced lucrative contracts with these companies. A multi-million dollar share purchase in Dell Technologies also caused discussion after Trump publicly praised the company and it later received a government contract worth billions.
Report: Israel bugs senior US officials
According to the New York Times, Israeli secret services may have wiretapped American negotiators working on a peace agreement with Iran. At the same time, concerns about a more general intelligence threat from Israel are apparently growing in the USA.
According to the reports, there are concerns that Israel has intensified its efforts to wiretap senior American officials. These include Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s top negotiator, Elbridge A. Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy official, and one of his top deputies, Michael P. DiMino IV.
