No Payoffs for Pardons Act

This bill would require people who receive a federal pardon, commutation, or other clemency to report to the Attorney General any benefits worth $10,000 or more in a 12-month period that they gave to the President, the President's immediate family, or related entities such as campaign committees, foundations, or businesses, or to people paid to seek clemency for them. Reports would be due within 90 days of clemency and then yearly for four years, and the Justice Department would post them on a public, searchable website. Violations could bring civil fines of up to $50,000 or, if willful, up to 5 years in prison. The bill would also change the federal bribery law to cover the President, Vice President, and candidates, to treat clemency as an official act and as a 'thing of value,' and to allow 10 years to bring bribery charges involving clemency.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Joseph D. Morelle Democrat sponsor
• 12 cosponsors