President Donald Trump has been on a clemency kick. During his first year back in office, he granted clemency to about 1,600 people—more than six times as many people as he did during his first term—mostly for involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He also has granted clemency to dozens of people convicted of financial crimes, including pardoning the former CEO of the crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, and commuting the sentence of former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.)
Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of Theranos, is the latest person convicted of criminal fraud to ask Trump to commute her sentence (that is, lessen her punishment), according to a request filed in 2025 with the Department of Justice.
