14 years ago, actor Mel Gibson pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge involving his then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, following which he was sentenced to three years probation, a year of counselling and community service. The misdemeanour conviction naturally caused a revocation of Gibson's gun rights because federal law forbids individuals convicted of crimes from purchasing or owning firearms.
The Braveheart actor-director's name is back in the news again. Elizabeth G. Oyer, a senior pardon attorney of the Justice Department, has alleged that she was fired a day after she refused to recommend a reinstatement of Gibson's gun rights.
The development comes three days after it was reported that the Donald Trump administration fired a few senior officials of the Justice Department.
In her allegation, Oyer added that she was asked to recommend the reinstatement given Gibson's recent appointment by Trump as a special ambassador to Hollywood along with fellow actors Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight.
In a New York Times interview, Oyer, whose former office is tasked with sending pardon recommendations to the White House, called the decision “dangerous".
"This isn’t political — this is a safety issue,” she said. “Giving guns back to domestic abusers is a serious matter that, in my view, is not something that I could recommend lightly, because there are real consequences that flow from people who have a history of domestic violence being in possession of firearms.”
Oyer recalled that after telling her superiors of her decision opposing the reinstatement of Gibson's gun rights, she received a call from the U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, informing her that "Mel Gibson has a personal relationship with President Trump" and that alone should be enough for her to make the recommendation.
She also recalled telling a colleague that Gibson would be her "downfall” a day before getting fired.
