What if some criminal blatantly says "I'll give you $1bn if you pardon me" and Trump does it? Is that enough for something to happen? Because it seems like that's the only place we can go from here...
And even if it were outright illegal, the Supreme Court has now ruled that the president is personally immune from criminal prosecution as long as they claim that their illegal activity was carried out in the course of their presidential duties, and not a personal crime committed on the side. Which leaves congressional impeachment and conviction as the sole recourse against presidential misbehavior. Which becomes a problem when the majority in Congress doesn't care that the president is doing illegal things. We haven't had a constitutional crisis like this since the FDR administration.
According to SCOTUS[0], as long as it's a "gratuity," it's not a bribe and not illegal. No. Seriously.
https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/06/supreme-court-limits-scop...