The most corrupt government in our history.
The case of a felon who paid lobbyists nearly $1 million to seek a Trump pardon
Nursing home magnate Joseph Schwartz was sentenced in April to three years for defrauding the government of $38 million. Seven months later, Trump pardoned him, but the White House denies a lobbying tie.
In April, Alina Habba, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, extolled her office’s role in the sentencing of a former nursing home magnate to three years in prison for defrauding the government of $38 million. The man, Joseph Schwartz, was alleged to have overseen a “collapsed nursing home empire” and “willfully” failed to pay employment taxes, Habba’s announcement said.
Around that time, Schwartz paid $960,000 to two lobbyists “seeking a federal pardon,” according to
their lobbying filing.
While many people have sought pardons from President Donald Trump, few could afford to spend such a sum to seek their freedom. The disclosure provides a rare look at how federal convicts are maneuvering to gain clemency during Trump’s second term and at some of the people offering to help them.
The lobbyists, right-wing provocateurs Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, noted on the disclosure form that they had been convicted of telecommunications fraud in Ohio in connection with a robocall scheme designed to deter the turnout of minority voters. They also face sentencing next month in Michigan on a similar robocall case and have been subject to millions of dollars in fines in a related case brought by the Federal Communications Commission, according to state and federal authorities. For years, the pair have injected themselves into politics, such as alleging without evidence in 2018 that there were
sexual assault claims against special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
It is not clear what Burkman and Wohl did for Schwartz. But on Nov. 14, seven months after Habba celebrated Schwartz’s conviction, Trump granted Schwartz a
“full and unconditional” pardon.
Liz Oyer, a former U.S. pardon attorney who was
fired by Trump in March, said the involvement of the lobbyists — and the huge payment — heightens concern that there is “a special tier of justice for people who can afford to pay.”
She said the Schwartz case is notable because the pardon went against a March recommendation by Trump’s Justice Department, which cited the seriousness of Schwartz’s crime in seeking a sentence of a year and a day. The judge rejected that recommendation and in April imposed a three-year sentence. Schwartz had served three months when he was pardoned, according to his attorney.
Burkman, whose company JM Burkman & Associates is listed as receiving the payment, declined to discuss his role in the case. In a brief telephone interview, he said, “We are just so proud and delighted that the president pardoned him. Other than that, I can’t talk about clients, I’m sure you understand.” In a follow-up email, he called Schwartz “a wonderful human being and man of God who had been unfairly accused by the Biden DOJ.”