What did Donald Trump do today?

He commuted a sentence in keeping with his basic philosophy of clemency: if he's done it, it's not really a crime.

Trump commuted the sentence of the notoriously corrupt Philadelphia union boss John Dougherty today, according to Dougherty's lawyer. The disgraced IBEW president had been convicted of using union coffers as his own personal bank account, and bribing a Philadelphia City Council member.

As a Democrat and a union leader—both things Trump isn't usually a fan of—Dougherty may seem like an unusual recipient for clemency from Trump. But Trump's pardons virtually always fall into at least one of two categories: ones where the recipient has put money in Trump's pocket in some way, and ones where they've committed a crime Trump is known or suspected (or in some cases convicted) of having committed himself.

Dougherty's bribery conviction falls squarely into the latter category. Trump has not really bothered to hide the extent to which he is using the presidency as a way to extort bribes. Sometimes these are laundered through cut-outs, like "donations" to his presidential library or his ballroom project, and sometimes they simply take the form of overt cash transactions.

Trump has also been caught dipping into funds he controls for personal use. Where Doughterty stole union dues, Trump used donations to his fraudulent "charity" to pay for personal expenses. 

Why does this matter?

• There's only one reason a politician would want to make political corruption and bribery seem like they're no big deal.