In October 2024, a federal jury in Las Vegas convicted Michele Fiore, a local elected official and ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, of charity fraud. Fiore, the jury found, solicited donations for a slain police officer’s memorial and spent nearly $80,000 of it on plastic surgery, her daughter’s wedding and rent.

The jury deliberated for less than two hours, including a lunch break, before finding Fiore guilty on seven charges brought by the Department of Justice.

Weeks before she was to be sentenced last year, Trump granted Fiore “a full and unconditional pardon,” sparing her the prospect of decades in prison, payment of criminal fines, and any restitution to donors whose funds she misspent.

In a statement at the time, a White House spokesperson noted Fiore’s support for the president and said that Biden-era prosecutors had targeted the politician, known in Nevada as “Lady Trump,” because of “outspoken conservative views.”

In an email to Reuters, Fiore criticized prosecutors and witnesses and maintained her innocence. “I have never taken one red cent of donations for my personal use,” she wrote. She declined to answer detailed questions about her career, case and conviction.

Fiore is one of at least 85 public officials granted clemency by Trump after charges or convictions related to corruption, according to the first comprehensive examination of such measures over the president’s two terms in office so far.

The Reuters review shows that the political impetus behind Fiore’s pardon wasn’t an outlier: The recipients of Trump’s clemency for public officials overwhelmingly have been fellow Republicans or vocal proponents of his MAGA movement.

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