I think these two cases are sort of parallels: people assumed that someone was a genius to such an extent that they disregarded any signs of fraud and sought little proof of the assertions being made.
Consider the case of Hillary Clinton, who by textbook definition mishandled classified documents, which other people have been jailed for. She was not even referred for prosecution because of her widespread connections and political machinery.
There's numerous other examples of connected people getting light or no sentences. Jussie Smollett is another one.