Boosie Badazz is fighting to recover $600,000 after claiming lobbyists failed to deliver the presidential pardon they promised him.
The Louisiana rapper opened up about the dispute during the latest episode of the Rickey Smiley On The Spot podcast, telling host Rickey Smiley that he initially resisted the proposal.
“What had happened was, some government lobbyists came to me and said, ‘We can walk in and get you a pardon from Trump,’” said Boosie. “At first I wasn’t going to entertain it, but I was under pressure.”
The rapper shared that he was facing the possibility of being resentenced over previous gun and marijuana possession charges. After receiving probation, Boosie said he asked the lobbyists to return the reported $600,000 he had paid toward the pardon effort. He filed a lawsuit after waiting a month without receiving the money, calling the arrangement a “scam.”
“I don’t know who y’all think y’all is, but I am a powerful Black man,” Boosie told Smiley.
The White House has distanced itself from the lobbyists Boosie hired, disputing claims that they had noteworthy access to the administration’s clemency process.
An official told NOTUS that the White House team handling pardons had “never heard from” Jacob Wohl or Jack Burkman, did not support their work and believed their involvement could “actively harm” a person’s chances of receiving clemency. Boosie’s attorney was also initially told that the White House had not seen an application submitted on his behalf. A separate application was later filed directly by his lawyer, but an official cautioned that “receipt of documents should not be taken to mean anything other than documents have been received.”