Rapper Boosie Badazz has taken a lawsuit to the press, the internet and the courts for a partial refund for his failed pursuit of a presidential pardon, NOTUS first reported on Monday.

The rapper, born Torence Hatch, reportedly paid $600,000 last year to far-right lobbyists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman of JM Burkman & Associates after assurances that their political connections could help him secure clemency from President Donald Trump.

In 2023, Boosie was on Instagram Live, taking part in a video shoot in San Diego with a member of the Crips gang. In the video, he displayed a gun in his waistband, a problem for the rapper given his prior felony conviction. The police determined his location and conducted a traffic stop that led to his arrest.

Facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Boosie turned to Wohl and Burkman in hopes of avoiding prison time and reached an agreement with them and their firm in September 2025.

On New Year’s Day, the Baton Rouge-bred artist was told that his clemency request had been secured, according to NOTUS. Then, on Jan. 13, he found out that was not the case. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years of supervised release, 300 hours of community service and a $50,000 fine.

Boosie is now citing a clause in the contract he signed with Burkman that included a provision that he could receive part of his payment back if he did not receive a pardon by Jan. 31, 2025.

However, that 2025 mention was a typo — it should have been 2026 — which both sides acknowledged. Lawyers for Burkman and Wohl claim the refund provision is invalid, however, because the deadline listed in the contract had already passed by the time the agreement was signed.

Separately, Burkman denied that his firm agreed to refund any money and said in a statement to The Advocate that his firm “tried very, very hard” to secure the pardon.

However, NOTUS reports that Boosie’s criminal defense lawyer, Meghan Blanco, heard from the White House that it had never received a request for a pardon.

“The president finds it detestable that anyone would even attempt to profit off pardons,” a White House official told “The Breakfast Club” host Loren Lorosa on Wednesday. The official also said the administration does not support the work of Wohl or Burkman.

Boosie is not only seeking a partial refund via arbitration, but has also publicly called out Burkman and Wohl, along with prominent conservatives he believed would have knowledge of his pardon.

“LAURA LOOMER, MIKE CERNOVICH, JACK POSOBIEC, ERIKA KIRK, MIKE JOHNSON, NANCY MASE, ANDY BIGGS,” Boosie wrote on X. “CAN THE NAMES ABOVE PLEASE MAKE A TRUTHFUL STATEMENT ABOUT HAVING CONTACT R NO CONTACT WITH BURKMAN N WHOL ABOUT MY PARDON PROCESS. 600k WAS TAKEN FROM ME WITH YOUR NAMES MENTIONED N EMAILS BY THESE PEOPLE.”

Rapper Boosie Badazz performs at Spectrum Center in January 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jeff Hahne via Getty Images

Unsurprisingly to anyone keeping up, many of the people Boosie cited said they had no idea who he is or what he’s talking about.

“Hey Lil Boosie, I don’t privately advocate for pardons nor accept money to do so. I do promote pardons publicly, with full transparency,” Mike Cernovich wrote in response. “Nothing against you, but never recommended a pardon for you nor even knew you wanted one.”

“I don’t get involved in this type of work and have no idea what you’re talking about,” Laura Loomer tweeted back. “No offense but I also have no idea who you are and have never heard of your case. Seems like Burkman is using people’s names without permission to get business. That’s also not how the pardon process works. You can’t pay for a pardon… not sure who told you that’s how it works.”

Well, that’s not how it typically works. But there is reporting from The New Yorker about the apparent “pardon economy” of the current Trump regime. It’s gotten bad enough that some members of Congress have written letters demanding more insight into how certain pardons and commutations came to pass. So, Boosie wasn’t completely out of line to believe $600,000 could buy his freedom.

As much as the rapper might share with these right-wingers in terms of their contempt for trans people, more often than not, these types also don’t do right by Black folks. If Boosie had done more digging, he may have recognized that Wohl and Burkman pleaded guilty to charges related to an illegal 2020 robocall campaign targeting Black voters.

Do they sound like the kind of people a Black man should have put his trust in? Should anyone feel bad for Boosie?

Maybe if you share blood relations with him, but for a rapper who’s rapped about hustling, one would expect him to know the game a bit better.

Perhaps it’s time for the 43-year-old rapper to learn how to act in public. He is currently facing up to two years in prison for another arrest earlier this year in Houston for allegedly striking a club security guard with a broken hookah base.

Even if you’re rich and famous, there’s only so much money a Badazz can use to stay out of trouble when he can never get out of his own way.

Related