Donald Trump pardoned Republican megadonor Adam Kidan days after a $2,600 check from him landed with Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a vulnerable Pennsylvania Republican.
Kidan, 61, went to prison over the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, a major 2005 political corruption and influence-peddling controversy that involved illegal lobbying, fraud, and bribery of public officials over casinos on Native American land.
He and Abramoff admitted inventing a $23 million wire transfer that persuaded lenders to advance $60 million toward their $147.5 million purchase of the SunCruz Casinos fleet of gambling boats. A federal judge sentenced both men to 70 months in March 2006. Kidan walked out of prison in 2009.
Mackenzie, 43, took the money through his leadership PAC on June 30, according to FEC filings first flagged by NOTUS. Trump had campaigned alongside him in his Lehigh Valley district a week earlier. The pardon came through on July 3.
The congressman’s office told NOTUS on Wednesday he never raised clemency for Kidan with Trump or the White House. It would not say whether he plans to return the money.
“Congressman Mackenzie has never advocated for a pardon from the President on anyone’s behalf,” communications director Arnaud Armstrong said in a statement. Mackenzie is defending Pennsylvania’s 7th District against Democrat Bob Brooks.
The Cook Political Report rates the contest a “toss-up.” Brooks’ campaign manager Jenna Kaufman told NOTUS that the check and the pardon together amount to “corruption in plain sight.”
Kidan has funneled millions into Republican politics. Federal records show about $270,000 flowing to Trump-aligned committees in the 2024 cycle. He has thrown fundraisers at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
In 2025, he wrote checks to three Pennsylvania House Republicans in competitive seats: Rob Bresnahan, Brian Fitzpatrick and Scott Perry. Kidan is also bankrolling state Treasurer Stacy Garrity’s run for governor.
April brought $7,231 for former Rep. Mike Rogers’ Senate campaign in Michigan, $3,500 for Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa and $22,445 for a joint fundraising operation benefiting Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, federal filings cited by NOTUS show. The Mackenzie check is the last federal political donation logged in his name.
The White House justified the pardon on the strength of Kidan’s record since prison. He founded Chartwell Staffing Solutions and now runs Empire Workforce Solutions, which the administration credits with placing more than 250,000 people in entry-level jobs.
His sentence also included a $21.7 million restitution order, shared with Abramoff, to be paid to lenders taken in by the scheme. Interest has piled up since 2006. It is not clear how much Kidan repaid. The pardon is expected to nullify whatever remains.
The Daily Beast has contacted Kidan, McKenzie, and the White House for comment on this story.
