Trump Pardons Venue Developer Accused of Bid-Rigging in Austin

In a decisive move Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump issued a full presidential pardon to Timothy Leiweke. Leiweke is one of two co-founders of Oak View Group (OVG), the company behind numerous large concert venues across the United States.

The specific case concerns an antitrust indictment that was filed earlier this year in July against Leiweke. The charges stemmed from allegations accusing him and his partner, Mark Riley – though only Mr. Leiweke is mentioned here – of orchestrating a scheme to unfairly restrict competition when bidding for a public university arena project planned in Austin, Texas.

The legal action brought by authorities concluded with the clemency document released by the Justice Department on Wednesday detailing this reversal. Prosecutors claimed that a rival bidder agreed to withdraw from consideration in exchange for receiving other work contracts. This effectively allowed Oak View Group to become the sole remaining qualified bidder for the project, constituting bid-rigging under federal antitrust laws.

As stated previously in July: “The defendant rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater at that time announcing the indictment against Mr. Leiweke specifically, though perhaps implicating OVG more broadly.

Mr. Riley is also charged in this July case filed by prosecutors regarding bid-rigging allegations concerning the Austin arena project. Both founders are reported to be denying any wrongdoing related to these accusations brought forward earlier this year involving manipulating a public tender process for university facilities and taxpayer money potentially affected by their actions.

This clemency, wiping out the federal case entirely, was signed into effect by President Trump on December 2nd.