Lawyer Oyer is rated Left-Center with High factual reporting by Media Bias Fact Check.
LEFT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources.
- Overall, we rate Lawyer Oyer Left-Center biased based on its legal accountability framing, criticism of Trump-era corruption, support for clemency reform, and emphasis on ethics, transparency, and institutional safeguards. We rate it High for factual reporting due to transparent authorship, strong legal expertise, reliance on public records and government documents, and a clean fact-check record, while noting that the content is strongly opinionated commentary rather than straight news.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER (-4.5)
Factual Reporting: HIGH (1.3)
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
Lawyer Oyer is a Substack newsletter written by Liz Oyer, a former United States Pardon Attorney and former federal public defender. According to the newsletter’s About page, the site focuses on presidential pardons, clemency, government ethics, public corruption, and legal accountability. Oyer was appointed U.S. Pardon Attorney in April 2022 and served until 2025. Her archived Department of Justice profile states that she previously spent 10 years as a federal public defender, served as Senior Litigation Counsel for the Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland, worked as a partner at Mayer Brown LLP, graduated from Harvard Law School, and clerked for Judge Stanley Marcus of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
Lawyer Oyer is owned and operated by Liz Oyer through Substack. Revenue is generated through paid subscriptions, reader support, and merchandise sold through the Lawyer Oyer shop. Authorship and ownership are transparent.
Analysis / Bias
Lawyer Oyer publishes from a left-center legal accountability perspective, with a strong focus on presidential ethics, corruption, clemency, and abuse of power. The publication is especially critical of Donald Trump and his use of pardons, but this criticism is grounded in legal analysis and Oyer’s professional experience with the federal clemency process.
For example, Pardon Trackers provides a subscription-based database tracking Trump administration pardons, commutations, and related financial penalties. This reflects a data-driven accountability approach, though access to the full tracker requires a paid subscription.
In Trump is looting our country. He just gave us (more) proof., Oyer analyzes Trump’s Form 278-T financial disclosure and argues that his stock trades raise serious ethics and conflict-of-interest concerns. The article cites public ethics filings, the Office of Government Ethics, the STOCK Act, Fortune, the Cato Institute, Richard Painter, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and proposed congressional reforms. The headline and tone are strongly opinionated, but the article is grounded in verifiable documents and legal context.
Similarly, Trump’s year-one pardons have erased over $1.5 billion in penalties for fraud and other crimes calculates the financial impact of Trump’s clemency grants using public information from the Office of the Pardon Attorney and court records. The analysis is advocacy-oriented, but the methodology is explained, and the author acknowledges limits in the calculation.
In The Corruption of the Pardon Power Is An Urgent Threat to Our Democracy, Oyer criticizes Trump’s clemency decisions and highlights the 60 Minutes coverage of Changpeng Zhao and broader concerns about the pardon process. The article is clearly opinionated and uses strong language such as “corruption,” but it relies on legal standards, DOJ clemency criteria, public reporting, and Oyer’s direct expertise as a former Pardon Attorney.
Overall, Lawyer Oyer is not neutral straight news. It is legal commentary and advocacy journalism with a clear anti-corruption and anti-Trump perspective. However, the publication is transparent about authorship, relies on public records and legal documents, and is written by a subject-matter expert with direct experience in the pardon process. This supports a High factual rating despite the strong editorial voice.
Failed Fact Checks
- None found by IFCN-approved fact-checkers.
Overall, we rate Lawyer Oyer Left-Center biased based on its legal accountability framing, criticism of Trump-era corruption, support for clemency reform, and emphasis on ethics, transparency, and institutional safeguards. We rate it High for factual reporting due to transparent authorship, strong legal expertise, reliance on public records and government documents, and a clean fact-check record, while noting that the content is strongly opinionated commentary rather than straight news. (D. Van Zandt 06/23/2026)
Source: https://www.lawyeroyer.com/
Last Updated on June 23, 2026 by Media Bias Fact Check
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