Lobbyist Arrested in Extortion Attempt of Client Who Received a Trump Pardon

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/us/lobbyist-trump-pardon-extortion-charge.html

https://archive.ph/nQCaf

Lobbyist Arrested in Extortion Attempt of Client Who Received a Trump Pardon
Josh Nass, a lawyer and lobbyist, had recently represented Joseph Schwartz, a former nursing home executive pardoned by the president late last year.
By Kenneth P. Vogel, William K. Rashbaum and Santul Nerkar
March 14, 2026 Updated 11:14 a.m. ET

Josh Nass, a lawyer and lobbyist with connections in President Trump’s orbit, was arrested by F.B.I. agents on Friday afternoon in Manhattan and charged with attempted extortion, according to court papers.

Mr. Nass, who has connections in conservative Jewish and evangelical circles, had recently been paid $100,000 to pursue clemency for Joseph Schwartz, who was convicted of tax crimes related to a nursing-home empire that had collapsed amid allegations of endangering the residents and defrauding his employees.

Joseph Nocella Jr., the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement issued Saturday morning, accused Mr. Nass of having “plotted the violent extortion of one of his own clients.”

Mr. Nass had been paid $100,000 by the client, but was owed an additional $500,000, according to court papers in the case unsealed on Saturday. The filings claim that Mr. Nass instructed someone he hired to “do anything and everything” to collect the outstanding funds from the client’s son.

...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trump will give him a pardon and a government job.