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Biden Considering Preemptive Pardons 12/06 06:12
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Joe Biden is weighing whether to issue sweeping
pardons for officials and allies who the White House fears could be unjustly
targeted by President-elect Donald Trump's administration, a preemptive move
that would be a novel and risky use of the president's extraordinary
constitutional power.
The 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 all.
Pardons are historically afforded to those accused of specific crimes -- and
usually those who have already been convicted of an offense -- but Biden's team
is considering issuing them for those who have not even been investigated, let
alone charged. They 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 don't
result in prosecutions.
While the president's pardon power is absolute, Biden's 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 immunity.
Recipients could include infectious-disease 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 Trump's criminal or civil trials and Biden administration
officials who have drawn the ire of the incoming president and his allies.
Some 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 said.
It follows Biden's 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 11-year 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 Trump.
Biden 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
Jan. 6, 2021. But he could be the first to issue them since Trump's pardons
never materialized before he left office nearly four years ago.
Gerald 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 proclamation.
Politico was first to report that Biden was studying the use of preemptive
pardons.
On 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 Jan. 6, and he promoted a social media post
that suggested he wanted military tribunals for supposed treason.
Kash 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 after."
Richard 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 Trump's
administration. He said he hoped that would "clean the slate" for the incoming
president and encourage him to focus on governing, not on punishing his
political allies.
"It's not an ideal situation at all," Painter said. "We have a whole lot of
bad options confronting us at this point."
While 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 law.
"There 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
he's going to do that, he's going to do that anyway regardless of what Biden
does."
More 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 said.
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