A Media Matters analysis found that right-wing cable networks Fox Business, Fox News, and Newsmax, and the broadcast network CBS News all seemingly failed to cover President Donald Trump's controversial pardon of tax cheat Paul Walczak, whose mother attended a $1 million Mar-a-Lago fundraiser just weeks before the pardon was granted. ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, and PBS collectively dedicated 72 minutes of coverage to the pardon.

In November, Paul Walczak pleaded guilty to withholding nearly $7.5 million from his employees' paychecks to fund his “extravagant lifestyle,” including the purchase of a $2 million yacht. Notably, Walczak's pardon application to the Trump administration explicitly cited his mother's political devotion to Trump — including significant fundraising and her attempts to publicize Ashley Biden's diary to damage then-candidate Joe Biden — as justification. The pardon drew media scrutiny after a May 27 New York Times report detailed the timing of the pardon, coming three weeks after Walczak's mother, Elizabeth Fago, attended an exclusive fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.

Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade explained of the recent slew of pardons, “It says if you were loyal to the president in the past, you will be rewarded, and if you are loyal now, you don’t have to worry in the future, so go out and commit crimes without regard to the consequences.” She added, “That’s a very dangerous place to be. It’s no longer a system of rule of law, it’s all about rule of the leader.”

The broadcast news networks ABC, NBC, and PBS each dedicated at least one segment to the story in the two days after the Times’ report. Cable networks CNN and MSNBC also gave the story significant attention spanning daytime and prime-time programming, with 31 and 28 minutes of coverage, respectively.

The lack of coverage on Trump-friendly networks Fox Business, Fox News, and Newsmax doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but CBS News' silence is notable, as it is the only major broadcast news network that did not cover the story during the study period.

CBS News' failure to cover the pardon is happening while its parent company Paramount Global is awaiting approval from Trump regulators for an $8 billion Skydance merger, and while the network is trying to settle a lawsuit with Trump himself over a 2024 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.

Trump seems game to deal pardons in return for political fealty, and he is only becoming more brazen. It is incumbent on all networks to highlight the impropriety.

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream database for all original programming on CNN, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and Newsmax for the name “Walczak” along with any misspellings; the term “pardon” within close proximity to any of the terms “Paul,” “tax,” “health care,” “nursing,” “donor,” “fundraiser,” “yacht,” or “mother;" or any of the terms “Fago,” “Ashley Biden,” “Biden diary,” “Kurlander,” or “Aimee Harris” from April 23, 2025, when President Donald Trump pardoned Paul Walczak, through May 28, 2025.

Media Matters also searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original episodes of ABC’s Good Morning America, This Week, and World News Tonight; CBS’ Mornings, Evening News and Face the Nation; NBC’s Meet the Press, Today and Nightly News; and PBS’ NewsHour for the same terms over the same period.

We timed segments, which we defined as instances when President Donald Trump's pardon of Paul Walczak is the stated topic of discussion, or when we find significant discussion of the pardon. We define significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discuss the pardon with one another.

We also timed mentions, which we defined as instances when a speaker mentions the pardon without another speaker in the segment engaging with the comment, and teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promotes a segment about the pardon scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

We rounded all times to the nearest minute.