Inside the Pardon-for-Profit Industry: How Trump Allies Are Cashing In on Presidential Clemency

What Happened

A newly formed lobbying firm called Mo Strategies, staffed by former Trump campaign and administration officials, has begun offering pardon and clemency services to corporate clients and law firms. According to CBS News, the firm's first pardon client—Blessinger Legal, an immigration law firm—has already paid $500,000 for lobbying services related to "immigration and pardon-related discussions." The firm is run by Marty Obst, a longtime Trump political strategist who served on his 2016 and 2020 campaigns and as an adviser to Mike Pence.

The engagement reveals a broader cottage industry that has emerged around presidential clemency during Trump's second term, with well-connected insiders leveraging their political access to profit from clients seeking pardons or sentence commutations. The White House has responded by stating that Trump "finds it detestable that anyone would even attempt to profit off pardons."

Why This Matters for the Common Good

This development touches on fundamental questions about government integrity and whether political access can be bought. When lobbying firms can charge hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide "guidance" on pardon processes, it creates a two-tiered system: those wealthy enough to hire connected insiders may have better chances at clemency, while ordinary citizens without resources navigate the process alone. This directly undermines the principle that government should serve the common good equally, regardless of wealth or political connections.

Connection to CGP Policy Positions

Government Corruption: The emergence of a pay-to-play pardon industry exemplifies how political access becomes a commodity when accountability mechanisms weaken. CGP's position on government corruption emphasizes that public processes—including clemency decisions—must be transparent and free from the influence of lobbyists capitalizing on insider connections. When presidential discretion becomes a profit center for political operatives, it erodes public trust and creates incentives for decisions based on who can pay, not on the merits of individual cases.

Immigration: CGP's immigration policy calls for a system that is "secure, humane, and honest." Blessinger Legal specializes in immigration cases, and the pardon lobbying appears designed to help certain clients navigate immigration enforcement actions. A functioning immigration system should apply rules uniformly based on law and individual circumstances, not based on a client's ability to hire well-connected lobbyists. When pardon outcomes depend on lobbying access rather than substantive legal review, the system becomes dishonest.

Taxation: While the article focuses on lobbying rather than tax policy directly, the broader wealth inequality that allows some clients to afford $500K lobbying fees while others cannot reflects the same systemic unfairness CGP identifies in the tax code—a system structured to advantage the ultra-wealthy and well-connected.