Trump pardons cost victims $119M in restitution
The gist
CBS News found Trump's clemency orders since January 2025 erased at least $119 million in unpaid restitution.
Victims like Ozy Media investor Thomas Franco may never recover court-ordered repayments.
How it unfolded
- 2017Thomas Franco met Carlos Watson, a journalist and political commentator who seemed to be building a media empire.
- 2017 -2022Franco, a partner at the New York private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, put almost $4 million into Watson's startup Ozy Media and urged friends to invest too.
- Jul 2024A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Watson of fraud, and a judge later ordered him to repay investors almost $37 million, millions of it to Franco.