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President Trump has changed the in his second term to reward the wealthy and well-connected, according to former Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer.  

"All of the traditional rules and procedures pertaining to pardons have been thrown out the window," Oyer said in an interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. "This administration appears to be working around the Justice Department rather than with the Justice Department to vet and review applications for pardons." 

Oyer oversaw pardon applications at the Justice Department from 2022 until this past spring. She said the are being overlooked in the president's second administration. 

Traditionally, people have applied for clemency by filing petitions through the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the Justice Department. There, some of the longstanding regulations in place for assessing pardon applications include evaluating whether an individual had demonstrated good conduct for a lengthy period of time following their conviction. People who apply for pardons typically have to be out of prison for at least five years and show that they've behaved well and taken responsibility for their actions.

According to Oyer, the Pardon Attorney's office would seek the views of U.S. Attorneys offices who had prosecuted these cases, the judges who had imposed the sentences, and any victims of the crime. Once a candidate appeared to meet the criteria for a pardon, the office then conducted a thorough background investigation through the FBI. According to Oyer, this was "to ensure that they were someone who was truly deserving and who could safely contribute to their community if they were granted the relief that a pardon provides."

But after Trump's second inauguration, Oyer said, the longstanding practices around clemency changed.

"I understood that clemency was going to be conducted entirely out of the White House without input from the Office of the Pardon Attorney," Oyer said. "This was a departure from over 100 years of practice." 

Oyer was fired in March after she says she opposed restoring gun rights to actor and Trump supporter Mel Gibson, who had been convicted of domestic battery. She has since become a vocal critic of the Trump administration. The Office of the Pardon Attorney, which had traditionally been staffed by nonpolitical appointees, is now run by Ed Martin, an ally of Mr. Trump.

In a statement to 60 Minutes, a Department of Justice spokesperson wrote: 

"The statements made by a disgruntled former employee are categorically false. The Office of the Pardon Attorney continues to serve a key role in assisting the President with exercising his constitutional authority to grant pardons and commutations. Applications are received and reviewed by the Office of the Pardon Attorney which provides recommendations to the President that are consistent, unbiased, and uphold the rule of law. There has been no departure from this long-standing process."

Last month, Mr. Trump drew criticism for pardoning crypto felon Changpeng Zhao, whose company, Binance, has taken steps to enrich a Trump family cryptocurrency firm. Mr. Trump .  

"I know nothing about the guy, other than I hear he was a victim of weaponization by government," the president told 60 Minutes contributor Norah O'Donnell. "When you say the government, you're talking about the Biden government."

The White House confirmed they received Zhao's application for pardon. The case is not included in a database of requests posted by the Justice Department. 

Oyer says it is likely because Zhao did not send in his petition through the traditional route. 

"There has cropped up what many experts have referred to as a 'pardon economy,'" she said. "Individuals who have political connections to the president are leveraging those connections to establish businesses lobbying for pardons. And applications are going straight to the president."

When asked about Zhao's case, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt this month said the pardon followed the normal procedure. 

"That's why we have a very thorough review process here that moves with the Department of Justice and the White House counsel's office," Leavitt said. "There's a whole team of qualified lawyers who look at every single pardon request that ultimately make their way up to the president of the United States. He's the ultimate final decision maker."

The pardon power is entrusted to presidents by the Constitution, and there have been controversial pardons throughout American history. Andrew Johnson's pardons extended to Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederacy. Richard Nixon commuted the sentence of teamster Jimmy Hoffa, and Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon.

Just last December, Joe Biden drew criticism by pardoning several members of his family, including his son, Hunter Biden. But Oyer says today, Mr. Trump is using his pardon power in ways that other presidents never have. 

Oyer said the way the president talks about pardons is significant. When he is asked about a specific case, such as Ghislaine Maxwell or P. Diddy, Mr. Trump answers by suggesting he has the power to pardon them, Oyer noted. 

"He doesn't answer whether he will or won't do it," Oyer observed. "And people are lining up in droves."

Oyer said the whole system of clemency is at stake, a system intended to show mercy to people who have been treated harshly by the criminal justice system. 

"There are many, many deserving candidates for clemency, who are continuing to apply through the Justice Department. These are people who do not have the money or the political connections to go straight to the White House through the front doors, to jump the line," Oyer said. "But many of them are truly deserving of these second chances that clemency can provide, and it is truly a shame, it is truly unjust that those people are now being overlooked in favor of the wealthy and well-connected."

The video above was produced by Brit McCandless Farmer and edited by Scott Rosann.