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Fact check: Who is the disgraced senator that Trump pardoned and hired to the DOJ
Executive Summary
President Trump pardoned multiple former state senators in 2025, including Jeremy Hutchinson (Arkansas) and Brian Kelsey (Tennessee), but there is no verified record that a pardoned state senator was then hired into the Justice Department; the individual publicly reported as pardoned and later working at DOJ is a former FBI agent, Jared Wise, not a state senator (news reports May–July 2025). This analysis untangles three distinct claims—who was pardoned, who was described as “disgraced,” and who was later employed by the DOJ—by laying out the primary, contemporaneous reporting and pointing to where conflation or misreporting appears to have occurred [1] [2] [3].
1. Who was claimed to be the ‘disgraced senator’ and what do reporters say?
Two separate, contemporaneous outlets reported that President Trump granted clemency to former state legislators in 2025, and those reports identify Jeremy Hutchinson of Arkansas as receiving a full pardon after a bribery conviction and Brian Kelsey of Tennessee as receiving clemency after a campaign finance conviction. The Hutchinson pardon was reported in late May 2025 and framed around an eight‑year sentence for conspiracy to commit federal program bribery; the Kelsey action was reported in March 2025 and noted his 21‑month sentence for campaign finance fraud. Both items were presented by mainstream outlets as executive clemency decisions, and both individuals had served as state senators and faced federal convictions before the pardons [1] [2] [4]. These pieces establish the factual baseline that multiple former state senators were pardoned, but they do not by themselves show employment at the DOJ.
2. Which pardoned individual is reported to have gone to work at Justice Department?
Separate reporting in mid‑2025 identifies a different figure—Jared Wise, a former FBI agent pardoned by President Trump for charges connected to January 6 matters—as being later employed by the Justice Department in a unit described as working on internal reviews of alleged “weaponization” of government. ABC News and other outlets in July–August 2025 reported that Wise, who faced serious allegations for conduct during Jan. 6, was serving in roles such as investigator or senior adviser within a DOJ group examining past prosecutorial and investigative practices. Those reports make plain that the DOJ hire was a pardoned former FBI agent, not a pardoned state senator, and they focus on Wise’s background and the internal role he assumed [3] [5] [6].
3. Where the claim likely conflated different facts and why that matters
The original claim appears to conflate two separate facts: (A) that Trump pardoned a “disgraced senator,” which is true for at least Hutchinson and Kelsey, and (B) that Trump pardoned someone who was then “hired to the DOJ,” which is true for Jared Wise but he is not a state senator. The available reporting therefore indicates a misattribution of roles rather than a single factual episode—journalists and readers may have merged the identities of different pardoned individuals when summarizing events. This conflation matters because it changes the institutional implications: a pardoned legislator entering DOJ employment would raise different concerns about separation of powers and political patronage than a pardoned former federal agent moving into an internal review role [1] [2] [3].
4. How outlets framed the appointments and evidence of bias or agenda
Reporting on pardons and appointments came from sources with different emphases: some focused on legal specifics of convictions and sentences and stamped them as executive clemency actions; other outlets emphasized policy and ethical questions about placing pardoned individuals inside the Justice Department. Coverage of Jared Wise’s DOJ role highlighted his alleged conduct on Jan. 6 and framed his appointment as controversial, which may reflect editorial concerns about the DOJ’s independence. Coverage of Hutchinson and Kelsey centered on the legal grounds for pardon and the backgrounds of those men as politicians. Readers should note that framing choices—legal versus institutional—shape perceived urgency and outrage in these accounts [1] [2] [5].
5. Bottom line: verified facts and outstanding questions
Verified facts: President Trump issued pardons to former state senators Jeremy Hutchinson and Brian Kelsey in 2025, and Jared Wise, a pardoned former FBI agent, was reported to be working in the DOJ’s internal review structures in mid‑2025. Unverified/misstated claim: that a pardoned “disgraced senator” was hired to the DOJ—this specific combination of actor and role has no corroborated source in the material assembled here. Outstanding questions include whether any additional pardoned individuals later took DOJ roles and whether internal vetting processes were followed; those require primary DOJ records or direct statements from the department to resolve fully [1] [2] [3].
6. What to watch next and how to verify these threads yourself
To verify future assertions, consult original presidential clemency proclamations and DOJ staffing announcements, as well as contemporaneous investigative reporting with named departmental sources. For the specific items above, rely on the March–May 2025 pardons reporting for the senators and July–August 2025 coverage for the former FBI agent’s DOJ affiliation; cross‑check with official DOJ releases and the White House clemency list to confirm dates and job titles. Those primary documents will resolve whether any further conflation occurred beyond the separate, documented cases outlined here [4] [1] [3].