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Trump-Linked Firm Took $500,000 to Lobby for Pardons

The payment shows a rising market of former campaign aides using political access to press clemency requests and has prompted calls for oversight

Overview

  • CBS News and other outlets reported Wednesday that Mo Strategies disclosed a $500,000 engagement to lobby for Blessinger Legal on immigration- and pardon-related discussions.
  • The lobbying filing said Mo Strategies lobbied both the White House and the Justice Department this year to advance Blessinger’s clients.
  • Mo Strategies is run by former Trump campaign and White House officials including Marty Obst and Robert Goad who say they advise which cases might appeal to this administration.
  • The White House condemned profit-seeking around pardons and the Justice Department said its pardon office has a record number of applications that will be reviewed impartially.
  • The payment adds to more than two dozen clemency-related lobbying disclosures in Trump’s second term and has intensified Democratic interest in probing possible pay-to-play clemency practices.