Washington, DC lobbyist Robert Wasinger sits at the center of the pitch Matt Argall used to approach Roger Ver. In messages described in the article, Argall said Wasinger, a Washington lobbyist and one of the first senior members of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, was the person who first flagged Ver’s case to him. That origin story mattered because Argall was selling access and momentum, and Wasinger’s resume offered both.
Robert Wasinger
By the time Argall began his outreach, Wasinger and Ver had already spoken in late 2024 about possible lobbying on a pardon. People familiar with those conversations told the reporter that Wasinger was never retained. Even so, Wasinger’s name was consistently invoked as proof that the effort had real Washington muscle. Wasinger declined to comment through a spokesperson.
Argall’s financial structure was blunt. Ver would wire ten million dollars to a trustee to start the process, then pay twenty million more only if a presidential pardon came through. Argall framed this as a performance-based arrangement justified by Ver’s perceived wealth and the stakes of the outcome. The dollar figures were eye-catching, but the plan depended on turning proximity into influence, and on the idea that well connected figures, including Wasinger, could get the case in front of decision makers.
Wasinger’s track record gave that pitch a surface logic. According to people with knowledge of prior clemency matters, he had previously helped Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy obtain a pardon during Trump’s first term. For a prospective client, that credential suggested he knew the players, the sequencing, and the message that might resonate. It also allowed Argall to position himself as the organizer who could assemble proven actors around Ver’s cause.
Matt Argall with girlfriend Valerie Haney (Source: TikTok)
Argall tried to stack additional validation on top of Wasinger’s perceived value. He brought in Brock Pierce for crypto world credibility and optics, highlighted their relationship on social media, and told the reporter that Pierce believed Ver’s net worth could be in the ten to twenty billion dollar range, which made the success fee look proportionate. The plan on paper was to warm up MAGA aligned influencers, present Ver as unfairly targeted, and leverage supposed relationships with senior officials. Argall said he traveled to Washington multiple times to lay groundwork.
Inside government, the story landed differently. The White House said it had no knowledge of the effort and reiterated that pardons move through the Office of the Pardon Attorney and the counsel’s office before reaching the president. The spokesman added that people overstating access to make money would discover the process is serious. That public stance undercut any claim that outside brokers, even those with notable past wins, could bypass the formal pipeline.
The legal piece never crystallized either. Argall introduced Ver to attorney Jesse Binnall for a single exploratory call. Binnall’s firm later said he took on no role, negotiated no fees, and had no further involvement. Without a retained lobbyist, without a contracted lawyer, and without a senior sponsor inside the executive branch, the plan lacked the control points that move a petition from pitch to decision.
By March, the push had stalled. An email showed Ver ignoring follow ups from Argall, and Ver’s attorney said the promoters were falsely claiming high level contacts. What remains is a clear picture of how Wasinger’s name functioned in the narrative. It served as the anchor for credibility and the proof point that a path existed. But with no engagement in place and a White House insisting on formal process, the presence of a well known name could not substitute for real access or execution.
With material from Bloomberg, Cryptopolitan and Ground News