Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to pardon those who he believes have been treated unfairly by the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden.

In a baffling moment this past weekend, one legal analyst suggested that the Supreme Court would allow Trump to sell those pardons for money. 

Law professor points to recent immunity decision

According to Newsweek, that allegation by New York University law professor Melissa Murray during a Sunday morning appearance on MSNBC's "The Weekend."

“The Supreme Court is not coming to save us.” @ProfMMurray unpacks how Donald Trump’s Supreme Court has “blessed” the former president’s intimidation tactics. pic.twitter.com/pEQ7eLloXG

— The Weekend on MSNBC (@TheWeekendMSNBC) September 8, 2024

"That immunity decision from July is so sweeping that the president can actually issue pardons," Murray was quoted as saying.

"He could probably take money for issuing pardons and it would be OK because the Supreme Court has said that he has immunity for his official acts and the pardon power is explicit in the Constitution," she speculated.

Supreme Court immunity decision covered official actions

Murray was referring to the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. United States, which saw America's highest judicial body rule that president's enjoy a presumption of immunity from prosecution.

What's more, a president has absolute immunity for acts relating to his or her "core" constitutional functions while having no immunity for unofficial actions.

"The President is not above the law," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion. "But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution."

Roberts went on to stress that this "immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party."

Unclear how accepting bribes could be construed as an official act

It is true that the issuance of pardons does fall within a president's core duties, something which is specified in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

It states that a president "shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

However, it is not clear how accepting bribes in exchange for the granting of a pardon could be construed as an official act.

Newsweek noted that For his part, Trump reiterated his pardon pledge at a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday, promising to "review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the Harris regime."