60 Minutes Hidden Camera Captures $300K Trump Pardon Broker Pitch To Convicted Felon

A hidden camera inside a Virginia hotel bar has captured two Washington lobbyists offering to secure a presidential pardon for a convicted felon for £237,000 ($300,000). The footage, aired by CBS News' 60 Minutes, is part of an investigation into a growing market in which brokers charge large sums to pursue presidential pardons.

Lobbyists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl told the felon, aquarium operator Ammon Covino, they could secure his freedom by October. Unknown to them, Covino was working with CBS News, and the entire pitch was filmed.

The Ritz-Carlton Meeting

The encounter took place in mid-August at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Burkman and Wohl sat with Covino and his wife, Crystal, laying out their approach, with Burkman telling him, 'With this particular White House, you have to put pressure on the president from all directions.'

Covino had served nearly two years in federal prison for illegally transporting a shark and a stingray across state lines. His own pardon application, filed by mail without a lobbyist, had been rejected by Mr Trump in July as part of a mass clearance of the clemency backlog.

Burkman and Wohl described a different route entirely: influence, contacts and relentless pressure rather than paperwork. For a fee, they said they could put Covino's case directly in front of the president.

An Emerging Pardon Economy

The Covino operation forms part of a much larger CBS News investigation. CBS News found that roughly 70 per cent of Mr Trump's second-term clemency actions bypassed the Justice Department entirely, rising to 92 per cent once the 6 January Capitol riot cases are included.

Brokers who claim connections to Mr Trump and his allies charge fees reportedly reaching £2.37 million ($3 million) for pursuing clemency cases. Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St Thomas who runs a pro bono clemency clinic, said applicants increasingly believe access is bought rather than earned.

He described a mindset in which people think they need only find the right paid intermediary to reach the president at Mar-a-Lago. One broker, former US attorney Brett Tolman, told Covino by phone that he bypasses the Justice Department altogether, sending petitions straight to the White House.

Tolman said he expects to handle 40 to 50 clemency cases during Mr Trump's second term, with a success rate above two-thirds.

Nursing home operator Joseph Schwartz, who pleaded guilty to failing to pay more than £30 million ($38 million) in employment taxes, received a pardon in November 2025 just months after Burkman's firm disclosed earning £758,400 ($960,000) from his case.

Families affected by Schwartz's nursing-home businesses reacted with dismay. Melissa Coulson, whose mother died after alleged neglect at a Schwartz-run facility, said the system had become about how much a person can pay.

Lobbyists, Lawsuits and Denials

Burkman and Wohl, who previously pleaded guilty over a 2022 robocall scheme targeting Black voters in Ohio, insisted to CBS News that their pardon work is lawful advocacy, not a pay-to-play scheme. Burkman said, 'If people hire advocates, of course they have an advantage,' while denying any suggestion of impropriety.

Rapper Torence Hatch, known as Boosie Badazz, has filed what appears to be the first known arbitration claim against pardon lobbyists of Mr Trump's second term, seeking a £237,000 ($300,000) refund, half of what he paid Burkman and Wohl.

Hatch has not received a pardon, while Burkman disputed the claim, saying no final agreement was ever signed.

The White House rejected any suggestion that clemency is for sale.

Spokesperson Lauren Bis said the administration runs a rigorous review process involving White House counsel, the Justice Department and pardon adviser Alice Marie Johnson, with Mr Trump as 'the final decider'.

Former Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin, who left his post in August, told CBS News he had never witnessed evidence of brokers or quid pro quo arrangements.

Covino, for his part, said he took part in the operation to expose what he called unfairness in the system, even while acknowledging it was probably unavoidable.

He said that if that is how the game is played, then that is how the game is played. The hidden-camera footage, alongside CBS News' wider reporting, points to a growing marketplace built around the promise of access to presidential clemency.