Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—U.S. pardon attorney sues, alleging she was fired after refusing to facilitate a political favor for the President, (Sep 8, 2026)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

She alleges she was fired after refusing to recommend restoring firearm rights to actor Mel Gibson.

Last week, Liz Oyer, a former Pardon Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, who worked well over a decade with the federal government, filed suit in D.C. federal court against the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney General alleging that she was fired for refusing to facilitate a personal favor for President Trump shortly after he took office in 2025. She alleges that her firing violated federal civil service laws, the Constitution, and separation-of-powers principles.

In the lawsuit, she claims she was asked to disregard her duties and make it seem like an independent review had been done that supported restoring the gun rights of actor Mel Gibson, who has a personal relationship with the sitting president. The actor’s gun rights were removed following his conviction of a domestic violence offense. Shortly after she declined, she was fired by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Gun rights restoration assignment. Oyer alleges that soon after the inauguration, she was placed in a working group that was given the “unusual” task of generating a list of individuals whose gun rights had been lost because of criminal convictions, but who merited consideration for having those rights restored by DOJ. Her office initially developed a list of roughly 95 individuals who had undergone review and vetting, whose convictions were very old and were for nonviolent offenses, and who had asked for the restriction to be lifted.

Told to add Gibson. After senior DOJ officials narrowed that list to nine people, staff working for Blanche allegedly instructed her to add Gibson. Oyer contends that she objected because Gibson's case had not been subjected to the same investigative process, and because of concerns about restoring gun rights to someone with a domestic violence conviction.

On March 6, 2025, Oyer informed Blanche's staff that she could not recommend restoring the actor's gun rights. Later that day, according to the complaint, a senior official urged her to reconsider, citing Gibson's personal relationship with Trump and suggesting that supporting the recommendation would be in Oyer's interest. She alleged the official used a “bullying tone” and suggested it would be wise for her to make the recommendation.

Refused and fired. Instead, the next day, Oyer submitted a memorandum that declined to recommend the actor for relief, noting that she did not know the particulars of his case and stating that the decision ultimately belonged to the attorney general. Within hours, she was allegedly removed from her position. DOJ security officers escorted her from the building after delivering a termination memo signed by Blanche.

Oyer asserts multiple legal claims, including violations of due process protections, the Civil Service Reform Act, and the First Amendment. She also contends that DOJ improperly relied on Article II authority to bypass congressionally enacted removal protections and argues that, even under DOJ's own interpretation of presidential removal authority, Blanche lacked the power to remove her because he was serving as deputy attorney general, not attorney general, at the time.

She also alleged she was unlawfully fired on the basis of political affiliation, because, on information and belief, it was based on DOJ’s perception that Ms. Oyer, who was hired during the Biden administration, was not politically affiliated with the current administration.

The suit asks the court to declare her firing unlawful, invalidate the termination notice, order her reinstatement, restore her pay and benefits, and bar future adverse personnel actions taken without the procedural protections required by law.

“The Constitution and our civil service laws protect public servants from retaliation for doing their jobs with integrity, said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is helping represent Ms. Oyer. “This lawsuit seeks to ensure that no administration can weaponize government power against career officials simply because they refused to bend to political demands. The independence, integrity, and credibility of our justice system are at stake.”

The case is No. 1:26-cv-03092.

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