Left: President Donald Trump departs after signing an executive order at an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Evan Vucci). Right: Michele Fiore campaign ad (YouTube).
The Nevada woman known as “Lady Trump” is not at all repentant after receiving a presidential pardon in her federal wire fraud case.
In October 2024, Michele Fiore, 54, a perennial electoral force in the Silver State, was found guilty by a jury of her peers on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud over theft of money from a memorial fund for a slain police officer.
In April, Fiore was granted a “full and unconditional pardon” by President Donald Trump. In a statement, a White House spokesperson said the grant of executive clemency was justified because Fiore had been targeted due to her “outspoken conservative views.”
Now, Fiore is speaking out about what she calls the “fake” case.
At the time of her indictment in July 2024, Fiore served as a justice court judge in Pahrump — an unincorporated town in Nye County. Before that, she served two terms as a state assembly member representing Clark County. She later served one term as a city council member in Las Vegas. Her political career also included unsuccessful bids for state treasurer, U.S. Congress, and governor.
The since-shelved criminal case against Fiore concerned one chapter during her time as a Sin City elected official.
On June 18, 2014, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Alyn Beck was killed in the line of duty alongside his partner, Officer Igor Soldo. Then a city councilwoman, Fiore solicited donations to honor Beck with a statue — allegedly promising those who donated that “100 percent of all contributions are used for this charitable event.”
While the statue does, in fact, stand in a flower bed near the entrance of Officer Alyn Beck Memorial Park in Las Vegas, the government says the monument was raised without Fiore’s financial help.
“Fiore did not use any of the tens of thousands of dollars in charitable donations for the statue of the fallen officer and instead converted the money to her personal use,” federal prosecutors summed up in a press release. “The donations were used to pay her political fundraising bills and rent and were transferred to family members, including to pay for her daughter’s wedding.”
Fiore moved for a new trial earlier this year — but U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey thoroughly rebuked the defendant’s request.
“[T]he jury heard from a veritable who’s who of Nevada business and politics, who wrote checks to Fiore’s charitable organization or her political action committee in reliance on her promise that 100% of the donations would be used to fund the statue,” Dorsey wrote in the denial order. “But the evidence showed that a development company paid for the statue, and not a dime of the money that Fiore raised was used for that purpose. Instead, each check was quickly converted to cash and spent on Fiore’s personal expenses like rent, cosmetic procedures, and her daughter’s wedding.”
On April 1, Trump appointed Sigal Chattah, one of Fiore’s close friends, as the interim U.S. Attorney for Nevada, according to The Nevada Independent. The pardon came a few weeks later — roughly one month before she was scheduled to have been sentenced.
Fiore faced up to 20 years behind bars.
“It was a fake case, and the government knew it,” Fiore told Las Vegas-based CBS affiliate KLAS last week.
During what the TV station referred to as an “impromptu” interview outside of an AM radio station where she gave a scheduled hourlong interview, the since-pardoned politician insisted she did not steal donations to pay for her daughter’s wedding.
The news of the pardon made her break down and cry for about 40 minutes, she told Tom Letizia on the aforementioned radio show.
“I just started crying because, you know, knowing what I was going through,” Fiore said. “For some reason, people think I have President Donald J. Trump on speed dial. I do not.”
At the time of her indictment, she was suspended with pay by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline. The judicial board revoked her pay after her conviction — but backtracked on that financial penalty last week while maintaining her suspension.
“I don’t know what happened behind the scenes with the judicial commission, but I do know that they are dragging their feet,” Fiore told Letizia. “And they do know that what’s happening right now is not right or ethical or legal. It’s an abuse of their authority.”
Late last week, Fiore, who currently serves as a committee woman in charge of fundraising for the Nevada Republican Party, appealed her continued suspension to the Nevada Supreme Court.
