Trials & Litigation
DOJ fired lawyer as a result of she wouldn’t bend guidelines for Mel Gibson, lawsuit alleges
Elizabeth Oyer, a former U.S. Division of Justice lawyer who dealt with pardon suggestions for the company, claims that she was wrongfully terminated from her job. (Photograph by J. Scott Applewhite/The Related Press)
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, a former U.S. Division of Justice lawyer claims that she was wrongfully terminated after refusing to revive gun possession rights for actor Mel Gibson, who had a home violence conviction.
The motion introduced on behalf of Elizabeth Oyer, who labored because the DOJ’s pardon lawyer, was filed within the U.S. District Courtroom for the District of Columbia. U.S. Lawyer Normal Todd Blanche and the DOJ are named as defendants within the complaint, which was filed by the Democracy Ahead Basis.
“Shortly after President [Donald] Trump took workplace, Ms. Oyer was requested to ignore her duties and facilitate a political favor for the actor Mel Gibson, based mostly on Mr. Gibson’s relationship with President Trump. Ms. Oyer was requested to make it look like an unbiased overview had concluded that Mr. Gibson, who was convicted of a home violence offense, ought to have his gun rights restored,” in line with the grievance.
Oyer declined, and shortly afterward, she was fired by Blanche, who at the moment labored because the deputy lawyer basic, in line with the swimsuit. It alleges that the federal government violated her due course of and First Modification rights, in addition to the appointments clause of the U.S. Structure, the Administrative Process Act and due course of protections of the Civil Service Reform Act.
The Associated Press reported that Gibson, who pleaded no contest to misdemeanor spousal battery, had his conviction vacated in 2014 after finishing the phrases of his sentence.
Oyer was the company’s pardon lawyer from April 2022 to March 2025, and earlier than that, she was an assistant public defender and a senior litigation counsel with the Maryland federal public defender’s workplace, the Guardian stories. In July, she testified to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, urging that Blanche’s nomination because the lawyer basic not be confirmed.
Based on the swimsuit, shortly after Trump was inaugurated, Oyer was assigned to a working group liable for developing with names of people that misplaced their gun rights due to legal convictions however deserved to have their gun rights restored.
“This was an uncommon job for the workplace of the pardon lawyer, however Ms. Oyer accepted the task,” in line with the grievance.
The listing was comprised of people that had been convicted of nonviolent offenses, had been “very outdated” and requested for his or her gun ownerships again in pardon functions. The pardons workplace decided that the individuals had a low danger of recidivism, in line with the grievance.
Blanche’s workplace minimize the listing to 9 individuals and requested Oyer to draft a memo recommending them for gun rights restoration, which she did, in line with the swimsuit.
“Mr. Blanche’s workers then got here again to Ms. Oyer with one other request: They requested her so as to add the actor Mel Gibson to the listing,” her grievance stated.
She had considerations based mostly on Gibson’s home violence historical past and emailed them to Blanche’s workers.
“Later the identical day, a senior official on Mr. Blanche’s workers referred to as Ms. Oyer and urged her to suggest reinstatement of Mr. Gibson’s gun rights anyway in consideration of the truth that Mr. Gibson had a private relationship with President Trump. The official employed a bullying tone and instructed to Ms. Oyer that she could be clever to make the advice,” the grievance stated.
As an alternative, Oyer despatched a memo stating that she didn’t know the small print of Gibson’s case and left the choice to the lawyer basic, in line with the swimsuit. It additionally states that she was terminated a couple of hours later.
“If profession officers like me will be fired for refusing to bend the foundations to serve the president’s buddies, then the message to each public servant is obvious: Loyalty to a politician issues greater than loyalty to the Structure. I can’t settle for that,” Oyer stated in a Sept. 3 statement.
The DOJ didn’t instantly responded to an ABA Journal interview request.
In March 2025, an official from the company advised the New York Times that Gibson’s pardon had nothing to do with why Oyer was fired.
In April 2025, the DOJ restored Gibson’s gun rights, the New York Times reported in a separate article.
WSLS 10 additionally had coverage.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.