America's Elite Impunity Project Goes Global

Jair Bolsonaro was convicted for attempting a January 6-style coup. Yoon Suk Yuol faces impeachment for declaring martial law. Poland's former deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski is hiding in Hungary, accused of misusing public funds. Prince Andrew became the first British Royal arrested in centuries, linked to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Their misfortune? Not being American. Otherwise, they probably would have gotten away scot-free.

Donald Trump's rise isn't an aberration—it's the culmination of a decades-long American project to shield the powerful from consequences. Since Richard Nixon's resignation, both parties have worked systematically to ensure their leaders escape accountability for their actions.

The Architecture of Impunity

Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor in the name of "healing," inadvertently establishing that executive lawbreaking wasn't really criminal. The Reagan administration blatantly violated federal law during Iran-Contra, selling weapons to Iran and funding Nicaraguan death squads. Most Americans supported this because fighting communism supposedly justified extreme measures.

George H.W. Bush, former CIA director, pardoned nearly all Iran-Contra officials. George W. Bush's administration broke laws fighting the "War on Terror," but almost no one faced consequences—again, because fighting terrorism supposedly justified anything.

Bill Clinton lied under oath, got impeached, then was acquitted. Many Americans sympathized with lying about infidelity. After that, Congress decided bipartisanly that it had had enough of special counsels investigating the executive branch.

Barack Obama pledged to "look forward, not backwards," closing the door on prosecutions for executive lawbreaking while failing to hold anyone accountable for the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession.

The Supreme Court's Helping Hand

While Congress and presidents worked to place the executive above the law, the Roberts Court made bribery and corruption laws nearly unenforceable. Through campaign finance rulings, it ensured the wealthy could essentially buy elections without formally breaking laws. Politicians now depend on a few hundred billionaires who drop obscene amounts of cash each election cycle.

Getting convicted of bribery in America requires serious effort—like former Senator Bob Menendez, caught with gold bars after selling influence to Egypt. But even these rare cases prove the rule: accountability is the exception, not the norm.

Legalizing White-Collar Crime

In 2016, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's bribery conviction. The 2024Snyder v. United States decision ruled that federal law doesn't bar receiving "gratuities" for "official acts"—convenient for justices enjoying lavish lifestyles funded by billionaires with interests before the Court.

This logic culminated in 2024'sTrump v. United States, granting presidents sweeping immunity for "official" crimes. Right-wing justices framed this as protecting democracy rather than undermining it—a conclusion that would be laughable if it weren't so dangerous.

Brief Rebellions

The #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements represented brief rebellions against elite impunity culture. With few formal avenues for redress, people demanded that powerful bosses, celebrities, and police officers who abused their authority finally pay a price.

Those movements didn't last. The backlash fed Trumpian nostalgia for when sexual assault and police brutality were easily rationalized or ignored entirely. Many powerful bystanders acted as though they'd narrowly survived the guillotine, working to prevent such accountability movements from emerging again.

The Cruel Paradox

Many Americans who might have been outraged at elite impunity instead direct their resentment toward the poor and weak. They support a cruel criminal justice system that harshly punishes those at the bottom while exempting those at the top.

Did a few death-squad massacres or wedding bombings? Well, that's what America's leaders had to do to fight communism and terrorism. You can even take cash from undercover FBI agents if you're Tom Homan, Trump's immigration czar. But overstay your visa or get an abortion? Throw the book at them.

The Faustian Bargain

Trump benefits from backlash against accountability in the last place American elites face it: public opinion. He made voters an offer: Let us get away with what we want, and you can too.

MAGA offered another implicit bargain: You can be bigoted toward whatever group makes you mad, and everyone will still love and respect you. An impossible promise, but many Americans are content living vicariously through Trump's impunity, even if they can't share it.

As writer Katherine Alejandra Cross puts it: "They voted for impunity for themselves and authoritarian brutality directed at everyone they hated... The Trump voter would never again have to live with the mortifying ordeal of responsibility."

American Exceptionalism, Redefined

I don't want to overstate America's uniqueness in embracing elite impunity. But Brazil and South Korea don't hold themselves out as the "indispensable nation" or "shining city on the hill" that other democracies should emulate.

Elite impunity has become an American national project. We might need to reframe "American exceptionalism": Instead of a New Deal, we have a Great Society for white-collar crime, a New Frontier of executive lawbreaking, a No Rich Crook Left Behind policy.