Seeking pardons, many are lining up to pay

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump prepares to leave office in days, a lucrative market for pardons is coming to a head, with some of his allies collecting fees from wealthy felons or their associates to push the White House for clemency, according to documents and interviews with more than three dozen lobbyists and lawyers.

The brisk market for pardons reflects the access peddling that has defined Trump’s presidency as well as his unorthodox approach to exercising unchecked presidential clemency powers. Pardons and commutations long have been regarded as a show of mercy to deserving recipients, but Trump has used many of them to reward personal or political allies.

The pardon lobbying heated up as it became clear that Trump had no recourse for challenging his election defeat, lobbyists and lawyers say. One lobbyist, Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who has been advising the White House on pardons and commutations, has monetized his clemency work, collecting tens of thousands of dollars, and possibly more, in recent weeks to lobby the White House for clemency for the son of a former Arkansas senator; the founder of the notorious online drug marketplace Silk Road; and a New York City socialite who pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme.

John Dowd, Trump’s former personal lawyer, has marketed himself to felons as someone who could secure pardons because of his close relationship with the president, accepting tens of thousands of dollars from a wealthy felon and advising him and other potential clients to leverage Trump’s grievances about the justice system.

A onetime top adviser to the Trump campaign was paid $50,000 to help seek a pardon for John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer convicted of illegally disclosing classified information, and agreed to a $50,000 bonus if the president granted it, according to a copy of an agreement.

And Kiriakou was separately told that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, could help him secure a pardon for $2 million. Kiriakou rejected the offer, but an associate, fearing that Giuliani was illegally selling pardons, alerted the FBI. Giuliani challenged this characterization.

Trump has also discussed issuing preemptive pardons to himself, his children, his sonin-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and Giuliani.

A White House spokesman declined to comment.