A former U.S. Dept. of Justice Pardon Attorney says she was fired last week from her position for refusing to reinstate Mel Gibson’s gun rights.
Elizabeth G. Oyer says two weeks ago she was put on a group tasked with restoring gun rights for convicted individuals. But, when asked to add Mel — who lost his rights after his 2011 domestic violence conviction — she said no.
The New York Times was the first to report Oyer’s termination. She told the outlet that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office had compiled a list of nine people eligible for restored gun rights.
But, when Oyer submitted her draft memo to recommend the reinstatements, two senior Justice Department officials sent it back — asking her to add Mel. But, she responded to her bosses, making it clear she couldn’t.
She claims she later got a call from someone in Blanche’s office asking if she was willing to budge. When she stood her ground, they pushed harder — bringing up Gibson’s close ties to Trump, his role as a “special ambassador” to Hollywood, and hinting that recommending him would be the smart move.
Oyer says she stood firm on her decision … but just hours later, when she returned to her office, two security officers were waiting — with a termination letter from Blanche in hand — and they escorted her out of the building. Oyer says she was not informed why she had been fired … an unnamed Justice Department official told the NYT the Gibson issue was not part of the decision to fire her.
In 2011, Gibson pled no contest to misdemeanor battery against his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, and Oyer made it clear her refusal to reinstate his gun rights had nothing to do with politics — it was purely a matter of safety.
