New York Times reported Trump DOJ appointees killed criminal probe into alleged payments for Gentile commutation

On June 21, 2026, the New York Times reported that Trump administration political appointees at the Justice Department shut down an early-stage criminal investigation examining whether improper payments were made to secure the commutation of David Gentile, a private equity executive convicted in a $1.6 billion Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of retail investors. Gentile was freed in November 2025 — less than two weeks into a seven-year federal prison sentence — after Trump commuted his sentence, which also wiped away more than $15.5 million in potential forfeiture. Evidence gathered before the probe was closed included jailhouse communications in which Gentile discussed payments of $2.5 million or more to people or companies to help facilitate the clemency.

One figure who drew investigative scrutiny was the Rev. Frank Mann, a retired Queens Catholic priest and personal friend of Trump who delivered the closing benediction at the January 2025 inauguration. Mann denied any involvement, calling the suggestion "delusional nonsense" and saying all he offered were prayers. The probe ended abruptly, per the Times, after the paper began asking the White House and the U.S. attorney's office about it — a pattern in which press inquiry appears to have triggered the shutdown rather than protected the investigation's integrity.

Closing this probe is a distinct abuse from the underlying commutation. By suppressing an investigation into its own administration's clemency decisions — particularly after outside scrutiny began — the Justice Department placed political protection of the president's circle above the integrity of criminal enforcement. When the institution responsible for anti-corruption law closes a probe into potential corruption tied to executive power, no independent accountability mechanism remains.