WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 — Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer has filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Justice and Attorney General Todd Blanche, alleging she was unlawfully terminated after refusing political pressure to restore firearm rights to actor Mel Gibson. The complaint, filed in Washington, D.C., claims Oyer was asked to recommend that Gibson regain his gun rights—lost after a domestic violence conviction—despite her concerns about his history and the absence of a full background investigation. Gibson is a personal acquaintance of President Trump.
According to the lawsuit, Oyer was asked to make the recommendation appear as though it stemmed from an independent review. When she declined, a senior official on then-Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s staff urged her to make the recommendation anyway, citing Gibson’s relationship with the president.
Oyer again refused. Hours after she submitted a memo that did not recommend restoring Gibson’s gun rights, DOJ security officers arrived at her office with termination papers and escorted her from the building. Oyer, a career civil servant with more than 13 years in federal service, was entitled to constitutional and statutory due process protections.
The DOJ removed her anyway, claiming Article II of the Constitution gave the Attorney General authority to ignore Congress’s laws. The complaint argues that even under that legal theory, the removal was invalid—it was carried out by Blanche while he was Deputy Attorney General, not by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Oyer served as U.S. Pardon Attorney from April 2022 until March 2025, receiving exemplary performance reviews. She first challenged her removal before the Merit Systems Protection Board more than 16 months ago, but has received no substantive review. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring her removal unlawful, reinstatement, restoration of pay and benefits, and a prohibition on further adverse action without legal protections.
Democracy Forward, the legal group representing Oyer, framed the case in broader terms. Skye Perryman, the group’s president and CEO, said the lawsuit aims to protect public servants from retaliation for doing their jobs with integrity. Oyer said her firing violated her rights and jeopardized public safety.
If career officials can be fired for refusing to bend rules for the president’s friends, she argued, the message is that loyalty to a politician matters more than loyalty to the Constitution.
