Prospect of Pardons in Final Days Fuels Market to Buy Access to Trump

Reporting cited here

1. reported

   The New York Times reported a first-term market in which Trump associates collected fees to press clemency requests outside the ordinary Justice Department channel. Disclosures showed Brett Tolman received $22,500 to seek clemency for Ross Ulbricht, while an agreement paid former Trump campaign adviser Karen Giorno $50,000 to seek John Kiriakou's pardon and promised another $50,000 if she obtained it. The report said Kiriakou was not pardoned and stated that paid clemency advocacy was legal absent an exchange with the president.

   Reported engagements, disclosed fees, Kiriakou agreement and legal boundary

   Paid pardon advocacy expands during Trump's first term · Reported paid engagements; no pardon obtained in the cited Kiriakou matter

2. documented

   Paid advocacy directed at Trump's clemency process is documented across both administrations. First-term records include a $750,000 engagement that did not produce a pardon and retainers or contingent fees charged by Trump-connected advocates. In the second term, a lobbying filing recorded $960,000 from Joseph Schwartz before Trump pardoned him; CBS recorded a separate $300,000 pitch, documented a disputed $600,000 payment for an unsuccessful effort, and found that about 70 percent of second-term clemency actions were not routed through the Justice Department channel, or 92 percent including January 6 cases. A 2020 federal order described a separate alleged bribery-for-pardon investigation, and lawmakers have announced further oversight plans. These records document recurring paid clemency advocacy and disclosed six-figure fees. They do not establish that Trump received the brokers' fees or prove a criminal quid pro quo by Trump.

   First-term fees, access market, outcomes and legal boundary

   Clemency advocacy — fees, access pitches and DOJ routing · Congressional oversight announced; payment disputes and legal questions remain unresolved