In the Trump era, the pardon process isn't about righting wrongs; the process is itself wrong.

Former Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) was the first Republican member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump's 2016 presidential candidacy, and former Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) was the second. Both, it turns out, engaged in flagrant corruption, got caught, and were indicted by federal prosecutors in August 2018.

The Republican president made no effort to hide his outrage -- not because he was disgusted by the lawmakers' corruption, but because of his disappointment that the Justice Department wasn't corrupt enough. Trump explained at the time that he expected federal prosecutors to leave his political allies alone in order to advance the Republican Party's electoral goals.

Collins and Hunter were nevertheless charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison because they were very guilty. Last night, however, they were rewarded for their political allegiance to Trump, who's following through on his plans to hand out pardons like party favors to his friends.