Pardoning is done at their sole discretion. There is nothing illegal about bribing for a pardon. Trump could easily have a SPAC say “hey, here’s $500m, pardon him and retire.” Political suicide for sure. But not illegal, there is precedent, and if there’s life changing money (maybe a fraction of that) there’s a possibility.
Keeping a political donation for personal use is illegal, as is bribing a public official. They might offer a highly paid position to get around it. But as you say, it’s political suicide, and if the money went to the Democrat party, as it did with Marc Rich, the party risks a big black eye as well.
Pardoning is done at their sole discretion. There is nothing illegal about bribing for a pardon. Trump could easily have a SPAC say “hey, here’s $500m, pardon him and retire.” Political suicide for sure. But not illegal, there is precedent, and if there’s life changing money (maybe a fraction of that) there’s a possibility.
Look up Mark Rich as an example.
Keeping a political donation for personal use is illegal, as is bribing a public official. They might offer a highly paid position to get around it. But as you say, it’s political suicide, and if the money went to the Democrat party, as it did with Marc Rich, the party risks a big black eye as well.