On Tuesday, a midterm national GOP convention in Dallas was announced in hopes of bolstering the party’s electoral hopes and counteracting any fears of a “Trump slump” ahead of November.
Considering a string of high-profile losses by Team Trump lately — SCOTUS affirming birthright citizenship, Congress nixing of a billion-dollar budget request for the White House ballroom, cessation of military action in Iran, endless reflecting pool kvetching, and even the naming of a highway for Trump in Texas now off the agenda — the administration needs a power-play that will reach deep into the national psyche, fulfill a campaign promise, and reverse the damage done by the regime of former President Joe Biden.
Neither the DOJ nor Trump need to re-try the cases in their offices…. They just need to realize there’s a problem and real people are paying for it.
There remains a quick and inexpensive way for Trump to do just that before any “lame duck” dynamics begin to settle in:
That’s clemency.
And lots of it, directed to some deserving victims of government weaponization.
Is Weaponization Relief Cooked?
It’s not that cleaning up Sleepy Joe’s damage hasn’t been on Trump’s radar.
Trump’s $1.766 billion victims of weaponization restoration fund was a valiant attempt to offer some tangible relief — though perhaps doomed from the beginning being part of a courtroom deal and not a congressional appropriation. Congress axed the idea in mid-June, while Sen. Lindsey Graham floated a trial balloon of allowing victims to access some congressionally dedicated funds via the Federal Tort Claims Act (crickets on Graham’s suggestion so far — assuming he was serious).
Earlir in his term, Trump started a Weaponization Working Group to take a closer look, although that seems to have fizzled. Popular cries to lock up Biden and Obama allies have begun to replace demands to free political prisoners.
Fortunately, it seems very probable that a 250th Anniversary pardoning of 250 Americans will happen in the next few days. But (and we say this with love) if the clemency recipient list includes more names of alleged financial connections and seemingly random cases it will do little but generate more mistrust and confusion, as well as further Democrat critiques that Trump’s pardons are pay-for-play.
The Known and Lesser-Known Cases
With the help of some friends and family of lesser-known weaponization victims we can fill up that anticipated list of 250 names in short order.
Let’s address the famous cases first: There are, of course, the remaining J6 victims of the original 1,500 or so pardoned — though some of whom have other criminal charges that may necessitate their continuance behind bars or on supervised release. Jim Hoft’s American Gulag site has kept track of many of them, as have the numerous organizations keeping watch over those charged following the Jan. 6, 2021, elections protests at the U.S. Capitol.
And then there are a few celebrity cases, including former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, who was released in early June by her state’s governor.
Now for the ones you might not know about. Ed Rosenberg, who himself claims to be a weaponization victim, recently listed 43 such cases on his X.com account — many (but not all) are directly or indirectly victims of false intelligence prompted by Obama-Biden. Others are victims of unchecked prosecutorial power under Biden’s (non)watch. Some were tried and convicted as part of the scheme to derail a second Trump administration.
Let’s take a look at a few.
Mike Shirley — This successful GOP strategist and consultant said he is paying the price for standing up for President Trump. Mike Shirley said he refused to falsely admit to now-disproven “Russiagate” narratives and Trump’s alleged manipulation of election results in exchange for a lighter sentence. Alas, his case was part of a string of inquisitions starting with former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and downward designed to discredit Trump. Shirley was finally convicted in 2023 on ever-vague “honest services fraud” charges regarding a contract he had with a Florida county tax assessor’s office. He was sentenced to 7 years 3 months in federal prison with over half-a-million dollars in due financial restitution, but having no prior convictions and after having stolen no money. Biden admin prosecutors moved the goalposts several times, abandoned their original bribery theory, and their star witness pleaded the Fifth over 60 times. Shirley and his supporters maintain he committed no crime. Supporters are raising funds to keep his case known — forgotten after initial, widespread Orlando-area media coverage.
Chris and Erin Mazzei — In what supporter Roger Stone has framed as selective lawfare against a conservative family, California entrepreneur and filmmaker Chris Mazzei, along with wife Erin Mazzei, were federally charged in Hawaii for $1.3 million in PPP loan fraud (remember those during the COVID-19 shutdowns?) regarding their film catering business. Although Biden DOJ prosecutors claimed the funds bought personal luxuries like a Hawaii condo and vehicles, their (pre-pandemic) home was nevertheless seized. Extended family members received threats. The couple finally pleaded guilty in 2024 to staggered sentences for the sake of their children, with Chris set to take his turn in prison next. Why Hawaii for the venue? The Mazzeis claim the venue change was an effort to silence their next film project, tentatively titled “Ohana,” designed to expose local government corruption.
Keonne “Samourai” Rodriguez — In a clear example of government overreach against Bitcoin privacy innovators, cybercurrency developer Keonne Rodriguez was sentenced to five years in federal prison for co-creating Samourai Wallet, a privacy tool. Biden DOJ prosecutors claimed the open-source electronic wallet amounted to the laundering of over $237 million. He and co-founder Bill Hill were convicted of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business — even though the online wallet never actually held any user funds.
Roman Storm — In another cryptocurrency crackdown, the Tornado Cash case highlights another instance of alleged government overreach against software developers and privacy innovators. Roman Storm was famously arrested in a pre-dawn FBI raid and federally prosecuted for building open-source, non-custodial privacy software. Prosecutors alleged the code facilitated over $1 billion in criminal proceeds. Like with Rodriguez and Hill, Storm never actually held onto any user funds. He was finally convicted in 2025. Prosecutors are hoping for a retrial.
Mike Kail — Though indicted under Trump 45 in 2018, Mike Kail, then Netflix VP of IT Operations, was federally convicted on numerous counts and sentenced to 30 months in prison under the notorious honest services fraud category and money laundering. Kail, who spearheaded Netflix’s transition to 100 percent cloud infrastructure, accepted what is known as disclosed advisory compensation from vetted startups (a standard industry practice, he claimed). Prosecutors framed it as a kickback scheme. Kail refused to settle with Netflix and somehow the DOJ took over for Netflix, which resulted in an FBI raid and more charges — begging the question whether large corporations use the government as a weapon. His wife Reagan Kail keeps the fires lit in hopes of reversing the conviction which continues to plague them.
Doug Vance — Doug Vance was convicted in October 2022 of wire fraud and related white-collar charges involving $2 million stemming from a business dispute in Eastern Kentucky. He was sentenced to 14 years in a federal lockup. His wife, Heather Vance, claims he is innocent and evidence was suppressed and never shown to the jury. An appeal was denied by the Sixth Circuit, but since then Vance’s health has deteriorated and he has had a stroke, underscoring the urgency of at least some form of early release.
And that’s the tip of an iceberg. The organization Weaponization Watch has also advocated for 14 victims — including some of the above names. Trump supporter “Silk” has generously lent time on her ongoing “Diamond and Silk” program to covering these “forgotten” cases, as well as producing a documentary titled Pardon Me: The Bevelyn B. Williams Story regarding a J6er and lingering lawfare aftershocks.
There are numerous others we could name — Rosenberg himself was caught up in a messy third-party sellers fight with Amazon. Mike Castillero, who despite making some big accounting errors and offering to repay, was recently sentenced to 11 years, endangering the future of his wife and young kids. Are these cases anything mandatory college-level finance classes couldn’t solve without destroying families?
Plug-and-Play Cases
There’s a lot to review, but friends and family have done so much of the footwork already. With a Pardon Attorney office of 40 staff (maybe fewer after DOGE) at the DOJ, a special “Pardon Czar” in the form of Alice Marie Johnson, conservative firebrands in the department such as “Eagle Ed” Martin, and some restructuring on the White House end ordered by Susie Wiles, there’s no better time to expedite these claims.
Neither the DOJ nor Trump need to re-try the cases in their offices or agree with every single detail laid out by defense attorneys. Nor do staff have to understand the growing complexity of each federal rule allegedly violated. They just need to realize there’s a problem and real people are paying for it.
