60 Minutes began its new season on Sunday with a hidden-camera look at people who have been described as “pardon brokers.” Lesley Stahl, who has been with the CBS News show since 1991, said those brokers tell convicts they can sell access to President Donald Trump, and that the price is very high.
Stahl said one well-known pair appeared to sell empty promises and phony links to senior officials. She also said several pardons followed large donations connected to Trump, and she asked a Justice Department official whether that pattern was a coincidence or corruption.
Ammon Covino worked with 60 Minutes to record lobbyists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl without their knowledge. Stahl identified Burkman and Wohl as “Trump loyalists” who present themselves as pardon brokers. Covino was convicted in 2013 of illegal wildlife trafficking and served 23 months. After the government’s three-page pardon form was rejected, he turned to Burkman and Wohl.
Hidden-camera footage shows a $300,000 pitch and names later rejected by Trump-world figures
The two lobbyists quoted Covino a fee of $300,000. They said the sum would fund steps meant to push Trump, such as $10,000 fundraiser tickets and contact with MAGA influencers.
On the recording, Burkman told Covino and his wife, “With this particular White House, you have to put pressure on the president from all directions in a consistent way, to force his hand.” He also said, “We literally want to put the pen in his hand and get him to sign it because he’s tired of hearing about it.”
Covino later told Stahl, “I kept saying ‘This feels illegal.’” He said he repeatedly asked an AI model whether the arrangement broke the law and was told it did not. Stahl said the brokers’ work “is not illegal, yet none would talk to us.”
Boosie Badazz told the program he handed Burkman and Wohl $600,000. The rapper has convictions for drug possession and for being a felon in possession of a gun. “This is what I was led to believe: If you come with this money, you will get a pardon,” Badazz said.
He showed Stahl a text he said came from Wohl and Burkman. The message claimed they were lining up people close to Trump, listing Erika Kirk – written there as “Erica Kirk” – Laura Loomer, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and executive aide Natalie Harp. Stahl said all four denied any involvement in the case.
Badazz said the men have refused to give back half the fee, which he said their contract required if no pardon came through. “I said, ‘just return [the money], you didn’t get my pardon, it’s a bunch of BS,’” Badazz said. “And they were SO cocky.”
Stahl then listed pardons that followed money tied to MAGA circles. She named electric car CEO Trevor Milton, pardoned after a $2 million gift to Trump’s re-election campaign; the founder of the Binance crypto exchange, pardoned after helping the Trump family enter cryptocurrencies; and a healthcare executive pardoned after his mother attended a $1 million Mar-a-Lago fundraiser.
She put the examples to Ed Martin, who ran the Justice Department pardon office until he quit in August. “A pardon seeker going to Mar-a-Lago and joining in a fundraising event where you had to pay money and then getting a pardon, why isn’t that a quid pro quo?” Stahl asked. “Why isn’t that pay to play?”
Martin said, “I don’t know about those examples, but I would just say the prerogative, again the presidential prerogative, that it’s in the Constitution. It’s complete. It’s plenary.” He added, “When people say, ‘It’s brokers, there’s quid pro quo,’ I’ve never seen it. I haven’t seen it, haven’t heard it.”
Stahl reminded viewers that the pardon power goes back to George Washington and that President Joe Biden recently used it for his son Hunter Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci, among others. She told Martin the brokers’ claims look bad for the Trump White House. “Ed, the point is they’re going around you. And they’re bragging about going around you,” she said.
Martin answered, “I just don’t see any evidence of some magical brokers.” He also said, “I think people are trying to make money.” Stahl asked, “So are you saying that these brokers, they’re con men?” Martin replied, “They’re snake oil salesmen, they’re swamp salesmen. What word do you want?”
Producers later informed Wohl and Burkman that they had been filmed in secret. Both called the report a “sting” and then sat for an interview. Wohl said, “There’s nothing corrupt about [the operation]. There’s nothing improper about it.”
Stahl said, “It seems that you have to have money to get a pardon these days.” Burkman answered, “We don’t work for free any more than you do, right? You’re well-paid for what you do. We’re well-paid for what I do. Navigating Washington, as you well know is not an easy thing. The average person, the average rich person, they need help doing that.”
Stahl ended the piece by reporting that the White House rejected any suggestion that Trump sells pardons.
The White House told her, “Anyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money. President Trump performs his constitutional duties in an ethically sound manner, and to suggest so otherwise is either ill-informed or malicious.”
Published: Sep 14, 2026 12:30 pm