A hidden-camera investigation by CBS News' "60 Minutes" has exposed how right-wing operatives Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl allegedly run a pardon-brokering business, pitching a $300,000 package to help secure clemency from President Donald Trump. The pair were filmed at a Virginia hotel bar offering their services, including enlisting influencers to campaign publicly, to a man posing as a client but who was actually cooperating with the undercover probe. The revelations highlight growing concern over an emerging industry of brokers claiming privileged access to the White House's pardon process.

The undercover "client," Ammon Covino, is a convicted felon previously jailed for illegally transporting a shark and a stingray across state lines, whose genuine pardon request had already been rejected by Trump in July. Burkman told Covino and his wife that sustained pressure "from all directions" was needed to sway the president. The White House dismissed the operation, insisting Covino was never pardoned and denying any knowledge of the so-called lobbyists, while stressing its clemency decisions go through a formal review involving White House counsel, the Justice Department and pardon czar Alice Johnson before reaching Trump himself.