Trump-Linked Lobbyists Made Big Money From Clients Seeking Last-Minute Pardons
Some lobbyists made massive sums attempting to secure clemency or pardons in the final months of Trump s presidency.
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Washington lobbyists with close ties to outgoing President Donald Trump were paid lucrative sums by clients angling for last-minute pardons from the president.
Matthew Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a close Trump ally, brought in the largest haul. According to a lobbying filing released Thursday night, Schlapp was paid a whopping $750,000 since mid-December to lobby Trump to pardon Parker Petit, a top Republican donor who served as Georgia finance chairman for Trump’s 2016 campaign. Petit was convicted of securities fraud in November and faced up to 20 years in federal prison.
In the final weeks of
Donald Trump’s presidency, many of the swamp leeches who’d spent four years attached to him focused on leveraging their parasitic bond to power for as much cash as possible before January 20. One such hanger-on was
Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union and husband to former top Trump communications aide
Mercedes Schlapp. Matt Schlapp has built his influence in part by directing ACU’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference essentially the Panama City Beach spring break for College Republicans trying to get laid, Comic-Con for people who LARP as military operators, and Coachella for Fox News fans dying to see their favorite TV acts live. It’s through CPAC that Schlapp has gotten plenty of face time with Trump. The former president spoke at the conference every year of his term, including in 2019, when he used Schlapp’s main stage in National Harbour, Maryland, to make one of his longest speeches on record.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Washington lobbyists with close ties to outgoing President Donald Trump were paid lucrative sums by clients angling for last-minute pardons from the president.
Matthew Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a close Trump ally, brought in the largest haul. According to a lobbying filing released Thursday night, Schlapp was paid a whopping $750,000 since mid-December to lobby Trump to pardon Parker Petit, a top Republican donor who served as Georgia finance chairman for Trump’s 2016 campaign. Petit was convicted of securities fraud in November and faced up to 20 years in federal prison.
Because the 7th District is by far the most Trumpian of all districts in South Carolina, it would appear highly likely for someone to challenge [Rice] over his impeachment vote, state Republican Chairman Drew McKissick recently told Newsmax.