Was the Trump White House Selling Pardons?

Seems so.
Hard not to regard the president who got fired as the ultimate grifter.

Hmmm. Trump White House Income Source

During the Virginia Ratifying Convention’s debate on the adoption of the new US Constitution, on June 18, 1788, delegate George Mason laid out his concern that the pardon power was too broad for the president. What, he asked, if a less than honorable man should ever become president and abuse it to enrich himself?

The president, he argued, “ought not to have the power of pardoning, because he may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen, at some future day, that he will establish a monarchy, and destroy the republic. If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection? …. This is a weighty objection with me.”