By Kara Scannell, Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — Federal prosecutors charged a lobbyist with trying to extort a former client and his son to recover half a million dollars in debt, according to court filings.
Joshua Nass, a lobbyist who worked to obtain a client’s pardon from President Donald Trump, was arrested Friday outside his hotel in New York on charges of attempted extortion.
Nass, of South Carolina, appeared before a judge in federal court in Brooklyn on Saturday and was released on a $5 million bond. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Neither Nass nor his attorney could immediately be reached for comment.
The FBI affidavit and court filings do not identify the name of the former client Nass allegedly tried to extort.
According to an FBI affidavit, in January, Nass contacted an individual, who is cooperating with federal authorities, to threaten and physically harm a former client and the client’s son to recover $500,000 in owed fees.
Nass’ former client agreed to pay $600,000 for lobbying services, according to court filings. The former client’s son transferred $100,000 but said he was unable to come up with the rest of the money.
According to reports filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, the only payment Nass received as a lobbyist in 2025 for $100,000 was from Joseph Schwartz, a former nursing home executive who was convicted of tax crimes and later pardoned by Trump. Nass had been paid $100,000 to pursue clemency for Schwartz, who began serving his sentence in August before being pardoned by Trump in November. Court filings, however, do not name Nass’ alleged victims.
In late January, Nass and the informant, who communicated in English and Russian, discussed approaching the former client’s son, according to text messages included in court filings.
Initially they discussed having the informant approach the former client’s son at his home to intimidate him into paying the debt.
“Let’s say – give me the address, let me see and, er er listen, if I need to sock him a few times,” the informant said.
Nass replied, according to the court filing, “I will give you the right to do anything and everything.”
After the informant falsely told Nass that he went to the son’s home to collect the debt but was rebuffed, Nass allegedly escalated the threat.
Nass agreed to pay the informant $15,000 if he would physically assault the former client’s son, potentially by forcing him into a car from his home, according to the affidavit. Nass offered to pay an additional $5,000 for any additional men the informant needed, according to the affidavit.
If the former client’s son refused to pay, Nass allegedly told the informant that he did not want him to behave “like a human being with” the son.
Nass, who runs a political consulting firm called Merkava Strategies, bills himself as a problem solver to help people navigate “complex political, regulatory, and reputational environments.”
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