There have been preemptive pardons and mass pardons in the past, but never has the United States seen both happening at once in the numbers that just occurred between the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration.
There have been preemptive pardons and mass pardons in the past, but never has the United States seen both happening at once in the numbers that just occurred between the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration.
“It’s quite striking,” said Karen Hult, a political science professor at Virginia Tech. “It is highly unusual, especially coming from both sides — both the outgoing president and the incoming president.”
Former President Joe Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses on his way out of the White House on Monday, saying that his family had been “subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics.”
That came after Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and allies who have been targeted by President Donald Trump.
It was a remarkable use of Biden’s presidential power. None of the above have been charged with any crime, and the move was designed to guard against possible retribution by Trump.
“Probably the only other analog could be Gerald Ford’s pardoning of Richard Nixon because that, indeed, was preemptive before he’d actually been charged in a court of law for anything,” Hult said.
That happened back in 1974.
Shortly after taking office this week, Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting police officers.
According to Hult, that could be compared to former President Jimmy Carter’s pardon for those who evaded the Vietnam War draft between 1964 and 1973.
“That probably was closest to the scale that we saw with President Trump,” Hult said.
Notably, however, Carter’s proclamation excluded deserters, recipients of dishonorable discharges and those who committed violence during anti-war protests.
Hult said she believed this new era, where the pardon has become front and center in politics, will likely be around for a while.
“It does seem as though that it may well be here, at least for the foreseeable future, and that’s to say perhaps for the next several decades,” Hult said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The recent blizzard of presidential pardons has left many experts and political analysts scratching their heads. The sheer number and nature of the pardons granted by President Trump in his final days in office have been described as “striking” and “highly unusual” by many.
Typically, presidents use their pardon power sparingly and strategically, often waiting until the end of their term to grant controversial pardons. However, Trump has broken with this tradition by granting pardons to a wide range of individuals, including political allies, wealthy donors, and even family members.
The speed and volume of the pardons have also raised eyebrows, with many questioning whether Trump is using his pardon power to reward loyalty and protect himself and his associates from potential legal trouble.
Overall, the recent blizzard of presidential pardons has sparked a heated debate about the limits of executive power and the need for reform in the pardon process. Only time will tell what the long-term consequences of these pardons will be, but one thing is for certain: they have left a lasting impact on the political landscape.
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- Presidential power
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- Pardoning process
- Executive clemency
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