Trump pardons former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm 

Grimm was paralyzed following a polo accident last year 

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm was fully pardoned by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, May 28. 

Grimm, a Marine veteran and ex-FBI agent, represented Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. He pleaded guilty to tax evasion in December 2014 and spent seven months in prison and one month of house arrest beginning in September 2015. 

Grimm ran for Congress again in 2018 but lost the primary to then-U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan. He is a commentator for the conservative outlet Newsmax. 

He responded to the pardon in a statement provided to the Staten Island Advance. 

“I am grateful beyond words to President Trump for restoring my good name and giving me my life back. 10 years ago — after years of serving my country faithfully in the Marines, the FBI and in Congress — the Obama Justice Department was weaponized against me,” Grimm said in a statement Wednesday. 

He added, “I believe President Trump, having battled his own baseless lawfare campaign, saw this for what it was: using the Justice Department to do what they couldn’t do with the ballot box. Thanks to President Trump, I can now focus on recovering fully from my accident, supporting my family and serving the community that I love so dearly.” 

In September 2024, Grimm was badly injured after falling off a horse at a September polo match and was paralyzed from the chest down. 

Grimm has been treated at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, the same facility where the late Christopher Reeve was treated after he was paralyzed in 1995. He gave an update on his condition in a video posted on X on Jan. 7. 

“The amount of prayers and well wishes I’ve received since my accident has been overwhelming and I have to tell you that your prayers have been working,” he said. “Little by little, I’m getting better. As you can see, I’m now in a wheelchair. I’m working on my fingers, getting more dexterity in my fingers, and then getting my legs to move. But everything is moving in the right direction, and I can’t thank you enough.”.

The Michael Grimm Supplemental Needs Trust has created a GoFundMe account to aid his recovery. As of May 29, it had raised $752,052.