CBS’s long-running “60 Minutes” may be under new management in the Bari Weiss era but they’re back to  some of the same old tricks veteran interviewer Lesley Stahl is known for.

In tonight’s season premiere episode, Stahl interviewed several persons involved with presidential pardons: a segment a show promo described as a “hidden camera investigation into a lucrative business: brokering pardons for felons. Lobbyists offer a chance at clemency — at a cost, and with no guarantees.”

Recently resigned U.S. Pardon Attorney “Eagle Ed” Martin told Stahl he believed the pardon lobbyists are “snake oil salesmen” and that he had never seen any evidence of their actual influence on the White House. That there are no guarantees is obvious as the president has the absolute final word on whoever is pardoned, Martin added. Stahl, meanwhile, insisted that between 70 and 92% acts of presidential clemency under President Donald J. Trump were done withou the blessings of the U.S. Department of Justice. She pointed to a public perception that there are too many clemency recipients and that many were closely tied to political donations and other close connections to Trump.

The pardon lobbyists secretly filmed by “60 Minutes” defended that their practice is as old as the republic and that it was taking place in the Joe Biden White House as well (editor’s note: autopen and all). Stahl reported that pardon lobbyists who once charged thousands for their service now can collect over half-a-million and more. She interviewed a rapper, stage name Boozie Badazz, who spent around $600,000, had his pardon application denied, and is now suing.

The Trump Administration issued a statement insisting the president would continue reviewing cases objectively. But regardless, the president’s favorability is suffering during a tense mid-term election cycle, and now a new spotlight has been placed on skepticism over the pardons process (even though Biden still has the record for number of pardons issued).

But there is a way the Trump Admnistration can quickly quell persistent criticisms that his pardons are too closely tied to his interests and demonstrate that the administration is still devoted to reversing the damaging after-effects of a weaponized Biden regime.

In July — and in expectation of a round of 250 pardons for America’s 250th birthday that never quite materialized — this writer submitted to the American Spectator a list of low-profile pardon applicants who could easily be pardoned. These are not applicants with much in the way of personal wealth or powerful connections. Below is the pertinent portion of the article:

Now for the ones you might not know about. Ed Rosenberg, who himself claims to be a weaponization victim, recently listed 43 such cases on his X.com account — many (but not all) are directly or indirectly victims of false intelligence prompted by Obama-Biden. Others are victims of unchecked prosecutorial power under Biden’s (non)watch. Some were tried and convicted as part of the scheme to derail a second Trump administration.

Let’s take a look at a few.

Mike Shirley — This successful GOP strategist and consultant said he is paying the price for standing up for President Trump. Mike Shirley said he refused to falsely admit to now-disproven “Russiagate” narratives and Trump’s alleged manipulation of election results in exchange for a lighter sentence. Alas, his case was part of a string of inquisitions starting with former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and downward designed to discredit Trump. Shirley was finally convicted in 2023 on ever-vague “honest services fraud” charges regarding a contract he had with a Florida county tax assessor’s office. He was sentenced to 7 years 3 months in federal prison with over half-a-million dollars in due financial restitution, but having no prior convictions and after having stolen no money. Biden admin prosecutors moved the goalposts several times, abandoned their original bribery theory, and their star witness pleaded the Fifth over 60 times. Shirley and his supporters maintain he committed no crime. Supporters are raising funds to keep his case known — forgotten after initial, widespread Orlando-area media coverage.

Chris and Erin Mazzei — In what supporter Roger Stone has framed as selective lawfare against a conservative family, California entrepreneur and filmmaker Chris Mazzei, along with wife Erin Mazzei, were federally charged in Hawaii for $1.3 million in PPP loan fraud (remember those during the COVID-19 shutdowns?) regarding their film catering business. Although Biden DOJ prosecutors claimed the funds bought personal luxuries like a Hawaii condo and vehicles, their (pre-pandemic) home was nevertheless seized. Extended family members received threats. The couple finally pleaded guilty in 2024 to staggered sentences for the sake of their children, with Chris set to take his turn in prison next. Why Hawaii for the venue? The Mazzeis claim the venue change was an effort to silence their next film project, tentatively titled “Ohana,” designed to expose local government corruption. [Update: Chris Mazzei reported to prison earlier this month.]

Keonne “Samourai” Rodriguez — In a clear example of government overreach against Bitcoin privacy innovators, cybercurrency developer Keonne Rodriguez was sentenced to five years in federal prison for co-creating Samourai Wallet, a privacy tool. Biden DOJ prosecutors claimed the open-source electronic wallet amounted to the laundering of over $237 million. He and co-founder Bill Hill were convicted of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business — even though the online wallet never actually held any user funds.

Roman Storm — In another cryptocurrency crackdown, the Tornado Cash case highlights another instance of alleged government overreach against software developers and privacy innovators. Roman Storm was famously arrested in a pre-dawn FBI raid and federally prosecuted for building open-source, non-custodial privacy software. Prosecutors alleged the code facilitated over $1 billion in criminal proceeds. Like with Rodriguez and Hill, Storm never actually held onto any user funds. He was finally convicted in 2025. Prosecutors are hoping for a retrial.

Mike Kail — Though indicted under Trump 45 in 2018, Mike Kail, then Netflix VP of IT Operations, was federally convicted on numerous counts and sentenced to 30 months in prison under the notorious honest services fraud category and money laundering. Kail, who spearheaded Netflix’s transition to 100 percent cloud infrastructure, accepted what is known as disclosed advisory compensation from vetted startups (a standard industry practice, he claimed). Prosecutors framed it as a kickback scheme. Kail refused to settle with Netflix and somehow the DOJ took over for Netflix, which resulted in an FBI raid and more charges — begging the question whether large corporations use the government as a weapon. His wife Reagan Kail keeps the fires lit in hopes of reversing the conviction which continues to plague them.

Doug Vance — Doug Vance was convicted in October 2022 of wire fraud and related white-collar charges involving $2 million stemming from a business dispute in Eastern Kentucky. He was sentenced to 14 years in a federal lockup. His wife, Heather Vance, claims he is innocent and evidence was suppressed and never shown to the jury. An appeal was denied by the Sixth Circuit, but since then Vance’s health has deteriorated and he has had a stroke, underscoring the urgency of at least some form of early release.

And that’s the tip of an iceberg. The organization Weaponization Watch has also advocated for 14 victims — including some of the above names. Trump supporter “Silk” has generously lent time on her ongoing “Diamond and Silk” program to covering these “forgotten” cases, as well as producing a documentary titled Pardon Me: The Bevelyn B. Williams Story regarding a J6er and lingering lawfare aftershocks.

There are numerous others we could name. Rosenberg himself was caught up in a messy third-party sellers fight with Amazon. Mike Castillero, who despite making some big accounting errors and offering to repay, was recently sentenced to 11 years, endangering the future of his wife and young kids. Are these cases anything mandatory college-level finance classes couldn’t solve without destroying families? […]

Neither the DOJ nor Trump need to re-try the cases in their offices or agree with every single detail laid out by defense attorneys. Nor do staff have to understand the growing complexity of each federal rule allegedly violated. They just need to realize there’s a [weaponization] problem and real people are paying for it.

Disclaimer: The writer of this article is a former colleague of Shirley’s and advocates for his pardon and release.