U.S. President Donald Trump, wearing band-aids on his hand, attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyde
President Donald Trump has corruptly commodified one of the most potent parts of the presidency and turned it into a product to be sold to the highest bidder, according to one lawyer.
Since taking office, Trump and his allies have turned the president's pardon power into a vehicle for self-enrichment, lawyer Mitch Jackson wrote in a new Substack essay published on Sunday. He's done so by employing a pay-for-play scheme whereby wealthy people in jail pay millions of dollars to high-profile associates of the president in an effort to purchase clemency.
The scheme works like this, according to Jackson. People seeking clemency pay about $1 million to hire a well-placed lobbyists within the administration who then work to secure a pardon from Trump. If those pardons are successful, the person receiving clemency may also pay a six-to-seven-figure "success fee" after the president signs the paperwork guaranteeing their release, according to the essay.
In one instance, Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., personally introduced a lobbyist named Ches McDowell to the president while McDowell was seeking a pardon for Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of Binance. Binance reportedly paid $800,000 to McDowell for the work, and then offered a success fee of more than $5 million once Zhao was freed.
Trump pardoned Zhao in October 2025. It is unclear how much Zhao or Binance paid as a success fee.
"In Donald Trump’s Washington, freedom has a price tag," Jackson wrote. "The presidential pardon, one of the most serious powers granted by the Constitution, now looks like a product on a shelf."
"Picture what this means in real life," Jackson added. "If you or someone you love faced an unjust sentence, would you have a million dollars for a broker. Most families do not. Your petition would sit in a stack, waiting for a formal review that can take years. Meanwhile, a billionaire pays for a direct line, and the request reaches the President through a family member at a ceremony. The system looks less like equal justice and more like a private club with a cover charge."
"This erodes a core promise of American law," he continued. "Equal justice under law means wealth does not purchase special treatment. A pardon marketplace shreds that promise. It tells working families that rules apply differently, depending on who writes the check."
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