We really need to put limits on the pardon power. It's clearly enabling corruption. Ford should never have pardoned Nixon. It's been a slide down the slippery slope ever since.
Maybe a single person should not be able to override the decision of a jury + judge. Acting in opposition to the law because you expect to be pardoned indicates that the process may be flawed
Both of the recent presidents have made some very questionable pardons.
Pardons should be changed to be subject to congressional approval (and rate limited). It’s clearly been demonstrated that the temptation to abuse it is too great.
There are limits on pardon power. If a politician gives pardons that the public doesn't like, they lose their job. It takes a few years, but finer-grained controls really won't help.
In this case we elected a President who categorically said he's pardon people who engaged in criminal behavior for him. The voters expressed a preference for corruption, and trying to fix that after the fact won't help. A democratic country that wants corruption will have it.
That does nothing to stop corrupt pardons during the presidents lame duck term, like those questionable Biden pardons before he vacated the White House.
Both of the recent presidents have made some very questionable pardons.