A hidden-camera investigation captured two right-wing provocateurs and lobbyists offering their services in the lucrative and rapidly developing business of brokering presidential pardons for people seeking clemency from Donald Trump.
Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl were recorded last month speaking with a convicted felon at the bar of the upscale Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
Their prospective client was Ammon Covino, an aquarium operator who served nearly two years in prison after being convicted of illegally transporting a shark and a stingray across state lines. Covino attended the meeting with his wife, Crystal.
Burkman and Wohl proposed a $300,000 package to help Covino pursue a presidential pardon. Their plan included recruiting influencers to promote his case publicly and build pressure for clemency.
The pair also highlighted what they described as their political connections and direct access to the President.
Describing the approach to Covino and his wife, Burkman said: ‘With this particular White House, you have to put pressure on the President from all directions in a consistent way to force his hand.’
Covino had already followed the standard procedure by mailing a completed pardon petition to the Biden Justice Department. Trump rejected the request outright in July.
That decision put Covino among thousands of applicants whose clemency requests were dismissed in one sweeping action as the administration attempted to reduce its enormous backlog of pardon cases.
Over the past 18 months, Trump’s use of executive clemency has followed a notably consistent pattern.
Convicted felon Ammon Covino, an aquarium operator who served nearly two years for illegally transporting a shark and a stingray across state lines, with his wife, Crystal
Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders, including pardons for January 6 riot defendants and a delay to the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency last year
Ammon Covino was offered a $300,000 package by two lobbyists seeking to help him obtain a presidential pardon
On his first day in office, Trump granted relief to more than 1,500 people charged or convicted over the January 6 Capitol riot. The action erased their legal exposure through pardons, commuted sentences and dismissed prosecutions.
Since that initial move, he has approved dozens more clemency requests, with many benefiting wealthy and well-connected white-collar offenders.
But Burkman and Wohl did not know that Covino was not actually seeking their help.
He was working undercover for a CBS News 60 Minutes investigation examining the business of brokering presidential pardons.
To reveal how such deals are arranged, the program asked Covino to contact pardon brokers while wearing concealed cameras to record their conversations.
The White House disputed the report, telling Our News Outlet that Covino had never received a pardon.
‘Anyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money and the President doesn’t even know who these so-called “lobbyists” are. The Trump Administration has a robust pardon review process which includes White House counsel, the Department of Justice, pardon czar Alice Johnson, and ultimately, the President himself as the final decider,’ said spokesman Lauren Bis.
The power to grant presidential pardons has long been surrounded by controversy.
As his term neared its end in December 2024, President Biden sparked sharp backlash by issuing a wave of last–minute pardons to political allies, campaign donors, and immediate family members.
The White House pushed back on the story, telling Our News Outlet that Covino was never granted a pardon
Explaining their strategy to the couple, one of the lobbyists, Jack Burkman, remarked: ‘With this particular White House, you have to put pressure on the President from all directions in a consistent way to force his hand’
Heading the controversial list was his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing after a federal firearms conviction and a guilty plea to tax evasion charges, as well as a preemptive pardon granted to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
A CBS News evaluation of Justice Department records reveals that roughly 70 percent of Trump’s second–term clemency actions bypassed standard department channels – a figure that surges to 92 percent when factoring in the January 6 cases.
Sources told CBS News that fees charged by brokers have surged, topping out at up to $3 million.
Federal law requires lobbyists to report both their clemency clients and the associated fees to Congress – but how they go about their process often operates under wraps.
Burkman and Wohl fired back a response to Covino’s initial email inquiry within seven minutes flat.
Pitching their firm’s track record, the duo bragged about securing ‘six victories’ for past clemency applicants and expressed full confidence in his odds. They pinned his 2013 conviction squarely on ‘Obama craziness,’ arguing his case was a clear example of overreach from that era.
Text messages sent to rapper Torence Hatch, also known as ‘Boosie Badazz,’ reveal how pardon brokers pitch having high-level influence to clients.
One message from Wohl’s number offered to recruit figures like House Speaker Mike Johnson, Laura Loomer and activist Erika Kirk to back Hatch’s federal gun case.
Presidential pardons have long been a topic of controversy. Joe Biden sparked sharp backlash by issuing a wave of last–minute pardons
Wohl’s denied sending that message.
It also claimed Loomer could ask top White House aide Natalie Harp ‘to bring it into POTUS.’
Burkman and Wohl disavowed the texts, claiming they had never even heard of Harp at the time.
Bis corroborated that Harp ‘has never even interacted with Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl.’
In the end, Covino explained that he agreed to go undercover to ‘expose unfairness.’
Yet, he admitted that dodging the system’s pay–to–play nature feels almost impossible.
‘I don’t like the fact that you have to pay such a huge amount of money because of who you know,’ he remarked. ‘But if that’s how the game’s played, then that’s how the game’s played.’
Our News Outlet reached out to Burkman and Wohl. Burkman and Associates, their lobbying firm, says they are ‘proud of the registered lobbying and advocacy work’ they carry out for their clients.
