A cottage industry of lobbyists, lawyers and political operatives has emerged around requests for presidential clemency during President Trump’s second term, with some clients paying hundreds of thousands of dollars — and, in some cases, far more — to advocates who say they can help navigate the process.
Rapper Boosie Badazz — legally Torence Hatch — paid $600,000 to Washington lobbyists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl of JM Burkman & Associates to pursue presidential clemency, according to NOTUS, which reviewed a contract tied to the effort and related communications. (notus.org)
Hatch did not receive a pardon, and he is seeking $300,000 back through arbitration, an amount he argues was guaranteed under the agreement if a pardon was not secured by a specified deadline, NOTUS reported. Burkman & Associates disputed that any refund provision was ever agreed to, according to the same report. (notus.org)
The dispute has drawn new attention to what NOTUS and NPR described as a growing “clemency economy” — a market in which well-connected advocates pitch their access to the White House and charge large fees to clients seeking pardons or commutations. (notus.org)
For decades, applicants have typically been directed through the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, which receives petitions, coordinates review and prepares recommendations for the president under federal regulations — even though the final decision legally rests with the president. (justice.gov)
But NOTUS reported that, in Trump’s second term, the traditional Justice Department-centered pathway has been far less central in practice, with a smaller circle of White House aides guiding which cases reach the president — a dynamic that has encouraged outside intermediaries to sell their services. (notus.org)
NOTUS also reported that lobbyists and attorneys in this space may steer clients toward Trump-connected networks — including people who can reach administration officials — and that total payments to pardon advocates have run into the millions of dollars, based on lobbying disclosures and interviews cited in its reporting. (notus.org)
A White House official told NOTUS that the clemency team had “never heard from” Burkman or Wohl, did not support their work, and that their involvement could hurt an applicant’s chances — while emphasizing that only the president has the authority to grant pardons. (notus.org)
