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The twilight years of once-great empires are usually marked by unprecedented corruption and an “everything is for sale” vibe, so we shouldn’t be surprised that that’s the case in America these days.
Presidential pardons are flying off the shelf like hotcakes these days, so when rapper Boosie Badazz found himself in trouble with the law, he figured he could get himself off the hook just by paying the right people.
But it seems that the embattled emcee did not get the outcome he’d been hoping for.
Boosie was arrested on gun charges in 2023. He says he later paid $600,000 to political operatives Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl because they claimed they could help secure a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
Spoiler alert: That pardon never came.
The rapper, whose real name is Torence Hatch, discussed the failed deal as part of a new 60 Minutes investigation into so-called “pardon brokers” — political operators who allegedly charge enormous sums while claiming they can get clemency requests in front of the president.
Boosie says he handed over the $600,000 upfront after Burkman and Wohl presented themselves as having serious connections inside Trump’s orbit.
At one point, things apparently got even more ridiculous.
Boosie claims his attorney was contacted on New Year’s Day and told that Trump had already signed off on the pardon, with the White House simply having not announced it yet.
That announcement never came.
Now Boosie is attempting to recover $300,000, arguing that his agreement with the pair called for half of his payment to be returned if the pardon was not delivered.
Burkman, however, has a very different version of events.
“We tried very, very hard,” he said, while denying that the alleged refund provision was ever actually agreed upon. He also argued that Boosie’s pardon effort became more difficult following the rapper’s arrest in Texas earlier this year.
The 60 Minutes investigation reportedly found that Boosie was far from the only person approached by alleged pardon brokers. Burkman and Wohl were secretly recorded pitching another potential pardon seeker on a $300,000 effort involving events, influencers and members of Congress.
Apparently, getting presidential attention doesn’t come cheap.
Some pardon brokers are reportedly charging as much as $3 million, while Burkman and Wohl deny doing anything improper. 60 Minutes also reported that pardon brokers themselves aren’t necessarily breaking the law simply by offering lobbying services.
The White House, meanwhile, has reportedly warned that people spending money to lobby for clemency are wasting it.
For Boosie, that warning comes about $600,000 too late. He wanted a Trump pardon.
Instead, he’s left fighting to get half a million dollars back.
Of course, “I paid $600,000 and never got the pardon” sounds like the beginning of one hell of an interesting hip hop song, so maybe this will all work out for Boosie in the end.
Boosie Badazz: Rapper Says He Spent $600K For Trump Pardon That Never Arrived was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.