By Steve Neavling
The Justice Department’s pardon attorney was dismissed a day after she refused to recommend restoring gun rights to actor Mel Gibson, a prominent supporter of President Trump, according to the attorney and others familiar with the situation.
Elizabeth G. Oyer, the former pardon attorney, said the decision marked a troubling break from longstanding practice, raising concerns about public safety and the department’s integrity. Gibson lost his gun rights after a 2011 domestic violence misdemeanor conviction.
“This is dangerous. This isn’t political — this is a safety issue,” Oyer told The New York Times, describing internal discussions on whether to return gun rights to people with domestic violence convictions.
Her account of the Justice Department deliberations—centering on guns, domestic violence, and political influence—was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter, who spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation.
Oyer was one of several high-ranking Justice Department officials fired on Friday, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to remove or demote senior career lawyers involved in key decisions. She was not given a reason for her dismissal but suspected the events leading up to it played a role.
A Justice Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, denied that the dispute over Gibson factored into Oyer’s firing.
A representative for Gibson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oyer said she had been assigned to a working group about two weeks ago to consider restoring gun rights to people convicted of crimes. Some conservatives have pushed for such measures, arguing that not all criminal convictions warrant a lifetime gun ban. Others warn that allowing people with domestic violence convictions to regain access to firearms poses serious risks.
The assignment was unusual for the pardon attorney’s office, which typically handles clemency requests and focuses on individuals without political connections or high-powered legal representation. While Trump frequently bypassed the pardon attorney in making clemency decisions, Justice Department leaders intended to decide the gun rights issue themselves in this case.
Federal law prohibits individuals convicted of crimes—including misdemeanor domestic violence offenses—from owning or purchasing guns. Technically, the Justice Department has the power to restore those rights, but in practice, it has not done so due to congressional restrictions, Oyer said.
