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Brokers charging up to Rs 28 crore — for pardon from Trump White House: Report
The investigation centred on an August meeting at the bar of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Tysons Corner, Virginia, where American lobbyists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl met Ammon Covino, a convicted felon
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US President Donald Trump. (File Photo)
American lobbyists such as Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl are pitching their Washington connections to people seeking pardons from United States (US) President Donald Trump, with fees reaching millions of dollars, according to a CBS News investigation.
In August, the two met convicted felon Ammon Covino and his wife, Crystal, at a bar in Virginia, United States, the American news broadcaster reported.
“With this particular White House, you have to put pressure on the president from all directions in a consistent way to force his hand,” Burkman said.
Covino, an aquarium operator who served nearly two years for illegally transporting a shark and stingray across state lines, had already applied for a pardon through the Biden Justice Department. Trump rejected it in July.
Burkman and Wohl offered to secure a pardon by October for $300,000. “It’s more energy and less process,” Burkman said. “…And contacts.” Covino was secretly working with CBS News, which used hidden cameras to investigate the brokers.
Pardon economy
CBS News reported that the Justice Department pardon process, where lawyers assess remorse and rehabilitation among other factors, has increasingly been bypassed. About 70 per cent of Trump’s second-term clemency actions did not go through the Justice Department.
Pardon brokers have instead sought access through White House contacts, charging clients up to $3 million (about Rs 28 crore).
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Among the brokers identified were former Utah US attorney Brett Tolman, lobbyist Ches McDowell, Adam Katz and former Trump White House official Stefan Passantino.
“I just send my petitions directly to the White House”
Tolman told Covino he avoided the Justice Department because “it’s the fox watching the hen house”. “I just send my petitions directly to the White House,” he said.
He claimed Covino’s application “never even got considered in the White House”.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said the administration “has a robust pardon review process” involving White House counsel, the Justice Department, Alice Marie Johnson, the White House “pardon czar”, and “the president himself as the final decider”.
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Burkman and Wohl denied operating a pay-to-play system. “If people hire advocates, of course they have an advantage. But that’s a very different question than saying something is pay-to-play,” Burkman said.
Fees and disputed promises
The brokers pointed to nursing-home operator Joseph Schwartz, convicted over more than $38 million in unpaid employment taxes and other offences. Trump pardoned him in November 2025, three months into his sentence. The firm disclosed receiving $960,000 from Schwartz.
Melissa Coulson’s family, which won a nearly $19 million wrongful-death judgment against Schwartz but collected nothing, disagreed. “It’s about how much you can pay for it,” she said.
Torence Hatch, a rapper known by the stage name Boosie Badazz, who has not received a pardon, sought a refund after paying $600,000 upfront.
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Clemency without remorse
Former pardon attorney Ed Martin rejected claims of a transactional system, saying: “When people say ‘there’s brokers, there’s quid pro quo,’ I’ve never seen it.”
Wohl told Covino that responsibility is “not the way you get these things approved”. Applicants were instead encouraged to claim persecution, including: “My client was persecuted by the weaponized Biden Justice Department.”
Mark Osler, a University of St Thomas law professor told the CBS News that the system had moved away from “acceptance and responsibility” and remorse over crimes. “We’re to the point now where pardons are followed by the taunting of the prosecutor,” he said.
Covino said he wanted to “expose unfairness”. “I don’t like the fact that you have to pay such a huge amount of money because of who you know,” he said. “But if that’s how the game’s played, then that’s how the game’s played.”
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