That DOJ Lawyer Fired for Refusing to Give Mel Gibson His Guns Back Is on TikTok to Explain Trump’s Pardons

Liz Oyer was fired from the U.S. Department of Justice successful March aft she refused to urge that histrion Mel Gibson beryllium allowed to ain firearms again aft a home unit conviction. The Trump authorities tried to unit Oyer, who worked successful the bureau that handles pardons, by noting that Gibson was a person of the president. But she refused to budge and was escorted retired of the gathering by information connected the bid of DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Oyer ne'er received an authoritative crushed for her dismissal, but it was wide that it had everything to bash with her refusal to urge that Gibson get his weapon rights back.

In an earlier era, the American nationalist whitethorn not person heard overmuch much astir Oyer and her basal against corruption. But acknowledgment to societal media, she present has a nonstop transmission to talk with the nationalist and tin assistance america recognize the soiled deals that look to beryllium perpetrated by President Trump’s authorities connected a regular basis. Oyer has joined TikTok and Instagram to assistance explicate however the pardons Trump has been issuing, often to affluent donors, are corrupt arsenic hell. And it’s truly enlightening to watch.

Oyer’s astir fashionable TikTok video truthful acold is about restitution, the request that radical who perpetrate crimes wage backmost the wealth they stole, and she does a large occupation explaining however Trump’s pardons of countless crooks person meant that astir $1.2 cardinal successful restitution (and counting) won’t beryllium paid back. Because those pardons don’t conscionable hitch the convictions, they besides hitch retired immoderate wealth owed.

In the lawsuit of radical similar Trevor Milton, the laminitis of EV institution Nikola, who was pardoned by Trump past month, the magnitude of wealth that’s nary longer owed successful restitution is genuinely mind-boggling. Milton was convicted of defrauding investors, and the DOJ was seeking $675 cardinal successful restitution for his victims. But present that Milton has his pardon, helium won’t beryllium paying a dime. As Oyer explains successful her video astir Milton, the billionaire donated $1.8 cardinal to President Trump’s campaign. Milton besides hired an lawyer named Brad Bondi, who’s the member of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Funny coincidence.

Hilariously, the President defended his pardon of Milton by insisting that the lone happening the EV laminitis did incorrect was enactment Trump, which isn’t a crime. “They accidental the happening that helium did incorrect was helium was 1 of the archetypal radical that supported a man named Donald Trump for president. He supported Trump. He liked Trump. I didn’t cognize him, but helium liked him,” Trump rambled incoherently. In reality, Milton staged a fake demonstration successful 2016 of a semi-truck for his investors. That’s what got him successful trouble.

Oyer spoke to Gizmodo this week and calls herself a “social media neophyte.” She had a backstage Instagram relationship but nary different societal media usage to talk of—that is, until past week erstwhile a household subordinate pushed her to effort TikTok. Oyer had immoderate important tips, including the proposition to present yourself aboriginal successful each video, thing that’s not evident to first-time creators connected platforms wherever radical talk straight to the camera.

“A younger relative of excavation truly encouraged maine to instrumentality my communicative to TikTok due to the fact that they believed that I would perchance scope a larger and antithetic assemblage there. And it took immoderate prodding,” Oyer told Gizmodo by phone.

“A mates of contented creators with a batch of followers, including my cousin, were benignant capable to beryllium maine down and springiness maine a 90-minute tutorial connected however TikTok works. And aft that, it inactive took maine possibly astir a week to really enactment up the courageousness to marque a video for TikTok,” said Oyer.

“So it was a process. And I person to admit that I was skeptical astatine archetypal astir whether it was thing that I could adjacent do,” said Oyer. “But, you know, I really consciousness similar they were right. It’s been a precise effectual mode to scope a antithetic and precise engaged audience.”

Liz Oyer, a erstwhile Justice Department attorney, speaks during the US House and Senate Judiciary Committees’ proceeding astir “Restoring Accountability: Exposing Trump’s Attacks connected the Rule of Law,” connected Capitol Hill successful Washington, DC, April 7, 2025. (Getty Images)

Oyer started arsenic a nationalist defender and said that her enactment astatine the DOJ was striving to marque definite that radical who had been treated unfairly got a accidental to person clemency.

“My superior extremity arsenic pardon lawyer was to truly marque the clemency process accessible to radical who had been treated unfairly by the transgression justness strategy and to marque the anticipation of clemency a world for those radical who had faced sentences that were overly harsh,” said Oyer. “And those radical are not the benignant of radical that we are seeing getting pardons nether this administration.”

The radical Trump has been pardoning person mostly been affluent individuals who donated wealth to his interests oregon radical who person demonstrated loyalty. And successful immoderate cases, it’s both. Aside from the wealth that volition nary longer beryllium paid successful restitution, the happening that makes Trump’s pardons truthful egregious is the elemental information that galore of the radical he’s letting disconnected weren’t adjacent sentenced yet. That’s not normal.

“The Justice Department has a full acceptable of guidelines that laic retired the criteria for recommending pardons, and they accidental that idiosyncratic should not adjacent beryllium considered for a pardon until they person completed their condemnation and astatine slightest 5 years person passed since they finished serving their sentence,” said Oyer. “So historically, pardons are mostly viewed arsenic thing that spell to radical who person served their sentence, paid their debt, demonstrated rehabilitation and bully behaviour successful the clip that has elapsed. And those criteria are each absent successful each 1 of the pardons that Trump has granted to date.”

Oyer tells the stories of radical similar Paul Walczak, the wellness attraction entrepreneur who was skimming wealth from his employees’ paychecks, and Michele Fiore, the justness of the bid successful Las Vegas who raised wealth for a constabulary serviceman memorial and alternatively spent the wealth connected integrative surgery. And each pardon is much enraging than the past for its evidently corrupt motives.

Oyer was asked to attest connected Capitol Hill astir Trump’s attacks connected the regularisation of law, and her erstwhile leader has tried to intimidate her implicit her tendency to talk out. As Oyer told Democrats last month, 2 equipped peculiar lawman U.S. Marshals delivered a missive informing her not to testify. But she’s speaking retired anyway.

Oyer says that she’s received immoderate trolling from pro-Trump folks but has mostly had affirmative interactions connected societal media truthful far, with immoderate radical adjacent asking bully questions that person fixed her ideas for aboriginal videos. And Oyer tells Gizmodo she’ll proceed making videos for a while, arsenic agelong arsenic radical are funny successful what she has to say.

If you’re not already pursuing Oyer, she’s 1 to cheque retired arsenic she helpfully breaks down Trump’s corruption utilizing expertise that provides unsocial insights into the horrors. And if we can’t halt the horrors, astatine slightest we tin beryllium told that nary of this is normal. The pardons, the speech of money, nary of it is normal. Being told that by idiosyncratic who knows what they’re talking astir is astatine slightest something.