Pardons
A summary of last week's presidential pardons
On his way out the door, President Biden pardoned his brother and a number of other family members. He also pardoned Liz Cheney, Anthony Fauci (who infamously oversaw public health during the pandemic), General Mark Milley (who infamously assured China secretly that he would warn them if America was going to move against it) and a few others. None have been convicted or even charged with crimes, but President Biden said he moved pre-emptively to avoid the stress of “unjust” potential lawfare against them. Is that an admission that the Department of Justice engages in that kind of thing or just a straight up admission of guilt on their part? Either way, the optics are pretty ordinary.
Most every president has used the pardon power in some unpopular or unethical ways, considering it was meant as a final recourse for those whom the judiciary had failed, not a method of rewarding sketchy friends.
There is some irony in the way President Biden railed against the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents must have immunity for their actions while in office. He clearly had his rival in mind, but in the end, pardoning those in your administration pre-emptively as you walk out the door amounts to a similarly powerful slate cleaner. (Just the News, BBC, Not the Bee)
For his part, President Trump has been dishing out plenty of pardons too. The president kept his promise to libertarians by pardoning Ross Ulbricht, whose supporters have argued for years that he was treated unjustly by the courts. Ulbricht operated a clandestine website (Silk Road) which was used to trade drugs and sex. Libertarians maintain that his business is consistent with free market policy and of course, drugs are not really an issue for them. However, Ulbricht was charged with ordering hits on several people but the murders were never proved to be his doing. He was given two life sentences. (NPR)
Less controversial for Trump supporters was the blanket pardon for 1,500 people charged with crimes relating to the Capitol breach in 2021. There may be no pleasing Democrats on that one, but most detractors on the Right were not quibbling with the scope of the pardons but with the homogeneity. Vice President Vance had said days before the inauguration that J6 pardons would be considered on a case-by-case basis (here’s just one unbelievable example). But all up, with the lawfare of the Biden years in the background, most MAGA folks would say that the President did the right thing. (Daily Signal)
President Trump also issued pardons for pro-life protesters who had been charged for violating no-go zone laws around abortion clinics. GOP lawmakers have since called for repealing the FACE Act which prevents pro-lifers from going near to abortion mill. (Daily Wire)