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Pardons for Sale, Free Jets, and Crypto Schemes: Why Trump’s Corruption Doesn’t Stick

Trump is the most corrupt President in history, here's why he keeps getting away with it.

Dan Pfeiffer

Jun 3

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The other day, the New York Times ran a story that, with any other president, in any other era, would have been a showstopper. Here’s the lede of that story:

Mr. Walczak, a former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election, submitted a pardon application to President Trump around Inauguration Day. The application focused not solely on Mr. Walczak’s offenses but also on the political activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago.
Ms. Fago had raised millions of dollars for Mr. Trump’s campaigns and those of other Republicans, the application said. It also highlighted her connections to an effort to sabotage Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s 2020 campaign by publicizing the addiction diary of his daughter Ashley Biden — an episode that drew law enforcement scrutiny.

There is evidence that Walczak’s conviction was based on faulty evidence or bias. He has not demonstrated any personal conversion or exhibited the good behavior that might warrant a pardon. His sole qualification for a pardon is that his family is a prominent financial supporter of President Trump.

Because his mother raised and donated millions to Trump’s campaign, Walczak will be spared a prison sentence. He will also avoid his court order to pay back the $4 million he stole from the nurses and doctors who worked for him.

Walczak’s mom put her donations to Trump’s campaign in the pardon application! This is the kind of smoking gun we rarely see in politics. And yet, the story was barely a speed bump for Trump. Under Biden or Obama, this would have been a weeks-long national scandal. There would have been Congressional investigations. The Attorney General would be forced to appoint a special counsel. Every media outlet in America would be covering the story, hammering the White House Press Secretary, and pushing Democrats in Congress to state whether they disavow the President over the obviously corrupt pardon.

And yet, this pardon was not even the biggest story of the day.

This is not solely a media problem. The public seems unconcerned about the rampant corruption within the Trump Administration, so much so that Democratic pollsters recently warned Congressional Democrats about the risks of launching corruption-based attacks.

Despite those warnings, I will still advocate for Democrats driving an anti-corruption message. However, it is also clear that voters barely care about Trump’s corruption.

The only way to stop Trump’s corruption is to make it politically toxic for Republicans. To accomplish that goal, we must understand why Trump continues to get away with a pay-to-play presidency.

1. Commits His Crimes Out in the Open

Even though it’s been nearly a decade, Trump continues to flummox the political-media complex by openly committing his crimes. He tweets (or Truths) them for everyone to see. There is no attempt to hide them with subterfuge.

Before Trump, there was a predictable rhythm to political scandals. It always involved the media uncovering some heretofore unknown secret through anonymous sources, whistleblowers, or leaked documents. The media puts a tremendous amount of value in this “secret” information that could only be uncovered through skilled journalism. These scoops are also exclusive to the outlet, meaning more clicks and more revenue. But when Trump commits his crimes in the open, the traditional media doesn’t know how to handle it. The ace reporters at the New York Times and Wall Street Journal end up covering it the same way as someone writing schlocky clickbait for The Hill or some other internet traffic merchant. They are looking for the next Watergate or Iran-Contra, and most of Trump’s corruption lacks that element of secret, insider information that drives media cycles.