Biden considering preemptive pardons for officials, allies

President Joe Biden is weighing whether to issue sweeping pardons for officials and allies who the White House fears could be unjustly targeted by Presidentelect Donald Trumps administration a preemptive move that would be a novel and risky use of the presidents extraordinary constitutional powerThe deliberations so far are largely at the level of White House lawyers But Biden himself has discussed the topic with some senior aides according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss the sensitive subject No decisions have been made the people said and it is possible Biden opts to do nothing at allPardons are historically afforded to those accused of specific crimes and usually those who have already been convicted of an offense but Bidens team is considering issuing them for those who have not even been investigated let alone chargedThey fear that Trump and his allies who have boasted of enemies lists and exacting retribution could launch investigations that would be reputationally and financially costly for their targets even if they dont result in prosecutionsWhile the presidents pardon power is absolute Bidens use in this fashion would mark a significant expansion of how they are deployed and some Biden aides fear it could lay the groundwork for an even more drastic usage by Trump They also worry that issuing pardons would feed into claims by Trump and his allies that the individuals committed acts that necessitated immunityRecipients could include infectiousdisease specialist Dr Anthony Fauci who was instrumental in combating the coronavirus pandemic and who has become a pariah to conservatives angry about mask mandates and vaccines Others include witnesses in Trumps criminal or civil trials and Biden administration officials who have drawn the ire of the incoming president and his alliesSome fearful former officials have reached out to the Biden White House preemptively seeking some sort of protection from the future Trump administration one of the people saidIt follows Bidens decision to pardon his son Hunter not just for his convictions on federal gun and tax violations but for any potential federal offense committed over an 11year period as the president feared that Trump allies would seek to prosecute his son for other offenses That could serve as a model for other pardons Biden might issue to those who could find themselves in legal jeopardy under TrumpBiden is not the first to consider such pardons Trump aides considered them for him and his supporters involved in his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated in a violent riot at the Capitol on January 6 2021 But he could be the first to issue them since Trumps pardons never materialised before he left office nearly four years agoGerald Ford granted a full free and absolute pardon in 1974 to his predecessor Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal He believed a potential trial would cause prolonged and divisive debate over the propriety of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elective office of the United States as written in the pardon proclamationPolitico was first to report that Biden was studying the use of preemptive pardonsOn the campaign trail Trump made no secret of his desire to seek revenge on those who prosecuted him or crossed him Trump has talked about enemies from within and circulated social media posts that call for the jailing of Biden Vice President Kamala Harris former Vice President Mike Pence and Sens Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer He also zeroed in on former Rep Liz Cheney a conservative Republican who campaigned for Harris and helped investigate January 6 and he promoted a social media post that suggested he wanted military tribunals for supposed treasonKash Patel whom Trump has announced as his nominee to be director of the FBI has listed dozens of former government officials he wanted to come afterRichard Painter a Trump critic who served as the top White House ethics lawyer under President George W Bush said he was reluctantly in support of having Biden issue sweeping pardons to people who could be targeted by Trumps administrationHe said he hoped that would clean the slate for the incoming president and encourage him to focus on governing not on punishing his political alliesIts not an ideal situation at all Painter said We have a whole lot of bad options confronting us at this pointWhile the Supreme Court this year ruled that the president enjoys broad immunity from prosecution for what could be considered official acts his aides and allies enjoy no such shield Some fear that Trump could use the promise of a blanket pardon to encourage his allies to take actions they might otherwise resist for fear of running afoul of the lawThere could be blatant illegal conduct over the next four years and he can go out and pardon his people before he leaves office Painter said But if hes going to do that hes going to do that anyway regardless of what Biden doesMore conventional pardons from Biden such as those for sentencing disparities for people convicted of federal crimes are expected before the end of the year the White House saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever