By Kara Scannell, Holmes Lybrand | 17分钟前 | 发布于 2026年3月14日，美国东部时间晚上7:42
根据法院文件，一名说客因试图向一名前客户及其儿子勒索50万美元债务而被联邦检察官起诉。
曾为一名客户争取特朗普总统赦免的说客约书亚·纳斯（Joshua Nass）于周五在纽约其酒店外被捕，被控企图敲诈勒索。
来自南卡罗来纳州的纳斯周六在布鲁克林联邦法院出庭，获释时缴纳了500万美元保释金。如果罪名成立，他最高可面临20年监禁。截至发稿时，纳斯及其律师均未立即回应置评请求。
联邦调查局（FBI）的宣誓书和法院文件未透露纳斯据称企图敲诈的前客户姓名。
根据FBI的宣誓书，今年1月，纳斯联系了一名正在与联邦当局合作的个人，威胁要对一名前客户及其儿子实施人身伤害，以追回50万美元的欠薪。
法院文件显示，纳斯的前客户同意支付60万美元作为游说服务费。前客户的儿子转账10万美元，但表示无力支付剩余款项。
根据《游说披露法》提交的报告，2025年纳斯作为说客唯一收到的10万美元款项来自约瑟夫·施瓦茨（Joseph Schwartz），他是一名前疗养院高管，因税务犯罪被定罪，后获特朗普赦免。纳斯获10万美元报酬，为施瓦茨争取赦免。施瓦茨于8月开始服刑，11月被特朗普赦免。然而，法院文件未提及纳斯的所谓受害者姓名。
1月底，纳斯与线人（通过英语和俄语沟通）讨论如何接近前客户的儿子，根据法院文件中的短信内容。
起初，他们计划让线人到前客户儿子家中，恐吓他支付债务。
“比如说——给我地址，我看看…如果需要，我可以给他几拳，”线人说。
根据法院文件，纳斯回复道：”我会给你做任何事的权利。”
当线人谎称已去儿子家中收债但遭到拒绝后，纳斯据称升级了威胁。
宣誓书显示，纳斯同意向线人支付1.5万美元，让他对前客户的儿子实施人身攻击，可能是将其从家中强行塞进汽车。此外，纳斯还提供额外5000美元，供线人雇佣更多人手。
如果前客户的儿子拒绝付款，纳斯据称告诉线人，不希望他”像正常人一样”对待儿子。
纳斯经营着一家名为”Merkava Strategies”的政治咨询公司，自称是”问题解决者”，帮助人们应对”复杂的政治、监管和声誉环境”。
Lobbyist tied to pardon from Trump charged with attempted extortion
By Kara Scannell, Holmes Lybrand | 17 min ago | PUBLISHED Mar 14, 2026, 7:42 PM ET
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 United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York is seen in Brooklyn in 2015.
Mary Altaffer/AP
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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