A paid foreign lobbying campaign reached for Trump; Trump pardoned its operator

Date: 2021-01-20
Entry type: foreign-agent-clemency
Current status: Full presidential pardon granted after Broidy's guilty plea.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-03

Elliott Broidy admitted taking millions to lobby Trump, the attorney general, and other senior officials over Malaysia's 1MDB forfeiture case and the removal of a Chinese dissident. The campaigns failed, but Broidy's FARA conspiracy conviction was wiped away by a Trump pardon.

Entities and roles

Elliott Broidyconvicted foreign-agent conspirator and pardon recipient
Donald J. Trumplobbying target and pardon grantor

Claims and evidence

factdocumented
Trump granted Broidy a full presidential pardon on January 19, 2021.
- U.S. Department of Justice, Public Integrity Section: Report to Congress on the Activities and Operations of the Public Integrity Section for 2020Page 18, pardon status
- Trump White House Archives: Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of ClemencyEntry for Elliott Broidy
factconvicted
Broidy pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate FARA after admitting that he took $9 million from Jho Low and agreed to lobby Trump, the attorney general, and other senior officials to end 1MDB forfeiture matters and to remove a Chinese dissident; DOJ said both campaigns failed.
- U.S. Department of Justice, Public Integrity Section: Report to Congress on the Activities and Operations of the Public Integrity Section for 2020Pages 18–19, United States v. Elliott Broidy