Overview
- In mid-July 2026 the rapper Boosie Badazz filed a $10 million federal lawsuit accusing Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl of misrepresentation and fraud after a pardon did not materialize.
- Boosie says he paid about $600,000 in September 2025 to JM Burkman & Associates to secure a pardon for a 2023 federal gun conviction and that the retainer included a refund provision if no full pardon was obtained by January 1, 2026.
- The rapper already filed an arbitration claim with the American Arbitration Association on March 25 seeking half of the retainer back, a parallel proceeding that aims to recover roughly $300,000 under the contract terms his lawyers cite.
- JM Burkman & Associates disputes any agreed refund term and says it performed substantial work on the case, while several officials and conservative activists named by Boosie have denied involvement and the White House says the operatives have no role in its clemency process.
- The case spotlights Burkman and Wohl’s prior legal penalties for robocall schemes and raises broader questions about a growing market for paid pardon lobbying and whether courts will resolve disputes over promised political access.