Failing to prosecute politically connected wrongdoers promptly, and with the same severity applied to ordinary citizens, is not a neutral or harmless omission. It is psychologically close to inevitable in emboldening further and more brazen misconduct by the individuals who escape consequence. A person who transgresses once and pays no price has little reason to expect a different outcome the second or third time.
Non-enforcement itself functions as an incentive structure. It signals to other ambitious actors that the expected cost of similar conduct is low, effectively rewarding transgression with continued wealth, notoriety, and power rather than punishing it. And it does so regardless of which party happens to control the machinery of enforcement in a given cycle.
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