Former US pardon attorney sues Justice Department over firing linked to Mel Gibson case

Elizabeth Oyer, the former pardon attorney for the US Justice Department, filed a lawsuit on Thursday in the US district court for the District of Columbia against the department and Attorney General Todd Blanche. She claims she was "unlawfully" dismissed last year after refusing to recommend restoring actor Mel Gibson's gun rights.

According to the complaint, in early 2025, while serving as pardon attorney, Oyer was asked to "disregard her duties and facilitate a political favor" for Gibson because of his "relationship with President Trump". She alleges she was asked to make it appear that an independent review had concluded Gibson — convicted in 2011 of a domestic violence offense — should have his gun rights restored. Oyer says she refused, and was fired shortly afterward by then deputy attorney general Todd Blanche.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to the Guardian's request for comment on the lawsuit. Following Oyer's dismissal in March last year, a department official told the New York Times that the disagreement over Gibson played no role in her removal.

Gibson, a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, lost his gun rights after a 2011 misdemeanor domestic violence conviction. The New York Times reported in April 2025 that the Justice Department was preparing to restore his gun rights. Oyer had previously told the newspaper she was dismissed a day after declining to recommend restoring Gibson's rights, and two people familiar with internal discussions confirmed her account.

According to the lawsuit, Oyer served as pardon attorney from April 2022 to March 2025. Before that, she worked as an assistant federal public defender and senior litigation counsel in the federal public defender's office for the District of Maryland.

Oyer argues in the lawsuit that her removal was unlawful and violated her constitutional due process rights, her rights under the Civil Service Reform Act, her First Amendment rights, and core separation of powers principles. She is asking the court to declare her removal unlawful, reinstate her to federal service, restore her pay and benefits, and bar the department from taking further adverse personnel action against her without the legal protections required.